An Open Doerr

Happy Birthday Live Wire!

2011-01-03T20:15:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that it's been two years since God started a new thing in Southern Indiana. I must say that I've never been more excited about Live Wire's future. Our best days are ahead and it will be immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine!

Take a look at this video we put together to celebrate what God has done over the last 24 months. Praise the Lord with us for all He has done!

I'll See It When I Believe It

2010-12-26T11:27:00.003-05:00

Last night, my daughter, Kayla, wanted to use the familiar phrase, "I'll believe it when I see it," but it accidently came out, "I'll see it when I believe it." As I laughed at her apparent slip up, it hit me the incredible truth of what she had just said. We are called to walk by faith, not sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). To wait to believe only when I can see it and touch it, is not faith at all. I will believe based on a Word from God (Romans 10:17)! As a result, I will see it manifest in my life. Thanks Kayla for setting straight our theology, even if it was accidental:)

The NBA Combine & Gordon Hayward

2010-06-26T17:00:00.002-05:00

I thought this video was pretty interesting. The first few minutes is a documentary on the NBA combine which is held in Chicago every year, just prior to the draft. The last few minutes is a story about Butler's, Gordon Hayward - an Indiana boy whose dreams came true on Thursday night, getting picked 9th overall by the Utah Jazz.

The Urinal Story

2009-10-17T23:07:00.004-05:00

Disclaimer: I realize I haven't blogged in a coon's age and I would love to break the drought with something spiritually edifying, but...I have to share what happened tonight. It was absolutely hilarious. Or at least I thought it was:)

It will go down as one of my funniest parenting moments. It took place tonight at Faith Harvest. I had packed five children (three of my own and two teens from church) in our van and went for a night of worship with friends. I was the lone parent as Jennifer had taken the girls to a women's ministry event. The night started off great. Emrie and Christian were worshipping with flags and were really into it. I was lovin' it as Jennie Mosier was leading worship and the presence of the Lord was filling the room. It was one of those moments you don't want to end. Now let me say that over the last couple of years I've had to learn to worship with minor childlike distractions. "Daddy, I'm thirsty", and, "Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom," is heard frequently. I've learned to deal with it and get back in the presence of the Lord. Well, tonight was a bit different. Like I said - the glory was thick and it was really getting good but as we headed into "Shout Unto God" and the intensity began to increase, I feel a tug on my shirt and my 3 1/2 year old son says, "Daddy, I have to poop." As you can imagine that made for a rapid descent down glory's mountain:) In an effort to grab a couple extra minutes in worship I instructed him to head to the bathroom and start his business and I would be there in a minute to help him finish up. I felt confident that he could do this as we had been to this particular church numerous times therefore he was well acquainted with the "facilities". I stayed as long as I could in worship and then slid out knowing I had a toddler in the bathroom, by himself. What I saw when I entered the men's bathroom was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I saw my son, pants down, sitting on the urinal with his poop face on! He was of course stunned and a bit embarrassed when he saw his father explode with laughter and nearly fall to the bathroom floor. I'm happy to say, I caught him in time and transitioned him to the appropriate location before any damage was done, but the memory is forever locked in my mental vault of hilarious moments.

As Not To Be Upstaged...

2009-09-18T18:53:00.002-05:00

A couple days ago I posted a touchdown run by my nephew, Andrew. Well, his older brother, Austin, refuses to be upstaged and took a recent recent reception to the end zone. So, to give my my nephews equal web presence on An Open Doerr, here is Austin's touchdown catch! Go Austin! Those were some pretty evasive moves:)

Andrew's Touchdown Run!

2009-09-14T12:05:00.001-05:00

My sister just sent me a video of my nephew, Andrew's, touchdown run. I thought I'd share it with the world wide web. Go Andrew!

Update

2009-09-07T13:34:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I last made a fresh entry to my blog. I thought I might take this down time on Labor Day to share some updates.

Family:
The kids are enrolled at Evangel Christian School here in Louisville. It's much smaller than Christian Academy but they seem to love it. Jalen is playing tackle football and the girls are taking piano lessons. Kayla is preparing for her first mission trip to Belize, Central America this spring. Jennifer is growing exponentially in her role as a mother, wife, and pastor. The house is still for sale as we long to sell and move back to Southern Indiana.

Ministry:
Live Wire is now eight months old and God is continuing to focus on building a strong foundation. Many that started this journey with us no longer with us but we are confident that God is in this and will be faithful to build His church and meet our every need. He is solidifying a core that will sacrifice all to see God's vision come to pass. We finished up a phenominal summer with visits from Apostle Jeff Johns and Apostle/Prophet Bill Norton. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do at Live Wire.

Personal:
God is teaching me much in this season about depending on him with my whole heart in every facet of my life. My faith is on the increase and the devil's influence is on the decrease. I'm learning every day what it means to be led by the Spirit, to walk in His gifts. On the job front, I recently became a front-line supervisor at UPS. This promotion has come with added hours which I praise the Lord for. I've also been working a couple days a week for Browning Landscaping.

Quote that's on my mind:
"Prayer is preparing your future." - Bill Norton

Upcoming event that's on my mind:
Young Adult Conference at White Horse (other than the date I have tonight with my wife)

Song that's on my mind:
Where You Go I'll Go - By Kim Walker & Jesus Culture

Whitehorse, Here We Come!

2009-07-09T10:18:00.003-05:00

I'm minutes away from leaving to meet a group of Live Wire teens and we're headed to West Lafayette, Indiana for the Whitehorse Youth Conference. I'm so pumped about what God is going to do! Please be in prayer for the following people and I'll try and post some thoughts, quotes, updates, etc. on this blog or my twitter account.

Heaven
Justin
Kayla
Brianna
Dwight

Pastor Jeff Johns Coming To Live Wire

2009-07-06T20:09:00.003-05:00

Pastor Jeff Johns is the Senior Pastor of White Horse Christian Center, a revival celebration center in West Lafayette, Indiana. He has been a minister of the gospel from his youth and is anointed to identify, nurture and raise up leaders. His ministry cuts across denominational and generational boundaries. Building covenant relationships in the love of the Father is the cornerstone of Pastor Jeff’s apostolic ministry to churches and ministers worldwide. He is recognized by many as a pastor of pastors. He will be ministering at Live Wire this Sunday at 6:00pm. We'd love for you to join us.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T03:16:00.002-05:00

In honor of Father's Day I wanted to share this powerful video of a father's confession to his family for not always being the dad they needed him to be. Lou Engle is the founder of The Call and travels the nation calling people to prayer and I so admire his passion for the Lord.

Happy Father's Day dads! What a privilege. What a responsibility.

Note: The audio/video is out of sync towards the end but it's powerful nonetheless. It's a must watch!

Blog Props

2009-06-16T21:15:00.002-05:00

I wanted to highlight two blogs that you'll want to take note of. The first is my wife's. She doesn't blog very often but when she does it is usually profound. Today's post was a response to the "April Rose" blog hoax. It's a long read but oh so anointed. Check it out here.

The second blog is from a pastor friend of mine, Russ Benson. He pastors a great church in the New Albany area and is using this blog to fuel revival. His writings, posts, and videos blessed me and I'm certain they will bless you as well. Check his blog out here.

I've finished "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt" and hope to share some thoughts about that read in the days to come.

The Ultimate Treasure Hunt

2009-06-02T14:47:00.003-05:00

I've been reading Kevin Dedmon's book, The Ultimate Treasure Hunt and I can't seem to put it down. It's a phenomenal book and extremely practical when it comes to evangelism. In short, a "treasure hunt" is when a group of people ask the Holy Spirit for specific "words of knowledge" or "clues". These clues that are written down on paper lead them to a divine encounter with a specific person (aka treasure - based on Luke 15 and the lost coin). Sounds crazy but this book is chalked full of stories that build your faith and stir your heart towards evangelism. I want to share one such story, not only because it's one of the most remarkable stories I've ever heard, but because it also keeps in theme with my last couple of posts. It's a bit lengthy but it will be worth your time! Trust me!

Recently, my (Kevin Dedmon) son Chad took a group of junior high school kids out Treasure Hunting. They had several odd clues that led them to the parking lot of a well-known supermarket. One of the kids had "a woman with a back injury" on his list. As my son scanned across the parking lot, he saw an angel holding a banner that read "encounter" over a Middle Eastern woman who was beside her van.

Chad and the team approached the woman and asked if she wanted prayer. The woman adamantly declined, indicating that she was in a hurry. Instantly, the "back injury" clue came to his mind as the woman was backing out of the parking space, and he yelled out, "You were in a car accident two weeks ago. You have pain in your back and it hurts to sit down." Absolutely shocked, she stopped in the middle of the parking lot and confessed that she had been in a severe car accident two weeks prior, leaving her with a debilitating back injury.

They began to explain to the woman that they were on a Treasure Hunt and that she was the Treasure they were looking for. Chad then explained about the angel that he had just seen over her, and then felt impressed to boldly tell her that Jesus had recently visited her in her dreams. The woman began to cry and explained that she had been a very dedicated Muslim her whole life, but had recently been visited by Jesus four times over the previous ten nights in her dreams. She had not known what to make of the visitations other than that the messages she had received specifically told her to be expecting an "encounter."

Chad and the team gathered around and began to release the presence of Jesus on the Muslim woman. Immediately, all the pain left her back, and she was completely healed. Chad then talked to her about Jesus, and she responded, "I want to know Jesus the way you know Jesus."

So, there in a parking lot, this Muslim woman had an encounter that changed her theology in a moment. The team did not argue with her about the differences between Islam and Christianity. No, they just demonstrated the Kingdom of God in response to some "clues" they had received from the Holy Spirit, and followed a vision that directed them to the place in which God had already prepared a treasured heart to receive Him.

Fast Food Encounters

2009-05-27T14:15:00.002-05:00

It seems to be that God is fond of fast food joints.

Yesterday, my wife and I were enjoying some down time at Chick-Fil-A in New Albany. We'd been there for a couple of hours, waiting to pick the kids up from school, when out of the blue this guy walks up, and without an introduction, just begins to prophecy over me! It was the craziest thing! He just began to share a word from the heart of God that was oh so encouraging. Though we had never met prior, he knew things about me that were specific to me and my situation. I just smiled and received the word he was delivering by the Spirit of God. I was floored that God would arrange this divine encounter at a fast food joint of all places. I would expect something like that at church, but at Chick-Fil-A?! I would eventually invite him to sit down and chat. We exchanged stories and found out he was the pastor at the Dwelling Place in New Albany. He had just come to Chick-Fil-A that morning to wait for his car to be worked on. He hadn't set out that morning to prophecy but as he communed with the Lord outside the four walls of the church, the Spirit of God moved upon him and before you know it, pastor Jerry was used to encourage another brother in Christ!

Here's another similar story that has God all over it. A couple weeks ago, my friend and pastor, Russ Benson was meeting a friend for lunch at the Wendy's in Corydon, Indiana. In the midst of conversation Russ perceives, by the Spirit of God, that a young man across the restaurant (a man he had never seen before) was a pastor. Russ tells his friend, "This guys a pastor. I need to go talk to him." So Russ gets up from his table and walks up to this stranger's table. He says, "Hey, my name is Russ Benson...blah, blah, blah. Are you a pastor?" The guys says no and Russ is like, "Oh dear, I missed this one." But the stranger immediately says, "...but I have this longing to plant a church." At this Russ begins to get excited because he himself is a church planter at heart and has a passion to see churches planted and partner with pastors to see this happen. He's been a huge help for me over the past six months! Anyway...to make a long story short...come to find out, this stranger at the Wendy's in Corydon actually lived in E-town, which if you're not familiar with the geography of this story, is in a completely different state! He told Russ that his intention that afternoon was to hit the Wendy's in E-town but the Lord told him to go to the Wendy's in Corydon:) Are you kidding me?! So he obeys the Lord, tracks across the river, takes his seat in the corner of the restaurant and God brings a strange church planter to his table to minister to him and establish a divine connection. Wow! God is good.

Even as a I share these two stories I'm seeing three very important lessons surface.

God has no desire to be confined to the four walls of the church! He's just as happy (if not more happy) to move supernaturally on Monday at Wendy's then He is to move on Sunday at church.
God is looking for people who will be his mouth piece in the market place! In talking to both Russ and Jerry, I'm pretty certain they both had passing thoughts like, "God, are you sure you want me to go talk to this stranger. What if this isn't you? What will they think?" But they obeyed God and God moved in supernatural ways to establish divine connection. He'll not only do this Christian to Christian, as was the case in the above mentioned stories, I believe if we'll stay sensitive to the Spirit's lead He'll bring us in contact with hurting people who don't know Jesus and will be open to the gospel as they have a supernatural encounter with God.
Stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading, even when picking a fast food joint! We have a tendency to turn off our spiritual ears when we're not in church or don't have our nose in the Bible, but if we'll continually be aware that the Spirit of God desires to lead us, we'll be surprised at the things that happen and the people we meet. Stay sensitive!

Note: I would encourage you to go back and read my previous blog entry as I think the two stories above are case in point.

Who's Leading Whom?

2009-05-12T11:59:00.004-05:00

I love the new Bible Jennifer gifted me for Valentine's Day. It's a comparative study Bible that lays side by side four of the most commonly used translations (KJV, Amplified, NASB, & NIV). For study purposes it is great! If you want to dig into a particular verse you can quickly reference the verbiage used in the other translations. Okay, I'm a geek but bare with me:)

Today I was reading in Acts 19 and stumbled upon something that I thought significant. Paul is finishing up a lengthy visit to Ephesus and the NIV says, "After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem..." No big deal. This was one of a plethora of decisions Paul would make over the course of his ministry. But wait! The NIV leaves out something incredibly significant! The other three translations, mentioned above, paint an entirely different picture. The NASB and KJV say Paul "purposed in the spirit" and the Amplified says he "determined in the Holy Spirit". You see, Paul didn't just wake up one morning and say, "Hey, I think I'll make a trip to Jerusalem. Sounds like a good idea." No! It was as he walked with the Holy Spirit and communed with his "divine tour guide" that the Holy Spirit put that leading and purpose in his heart. There's a big difference! I know because there have been many times in my life that I HAVE DECIDED to do this or that. Some of these were good decisions; others were not:( But what God has been teaching me over the last couple of years is that His desire is that we would be led by His Spirit. He gave us the Holy Spirit to be our Guide and Counselor. If we'll commune with Him and rely on Him, He will lead us to make decisions that are in alignment with the Father's will. And that my friends is when things begin to happen to advance the Kingdom of God.

And here's something else. Not only did the Holy Spirit prompt Paul to travel to Jerusalem, He gave Him a specific route. The Spirit led Paul to pass through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. If you were to look at a map, you'd see that's far from being the most direct route to Jerusalem. But the Spirit of God had reasons, things He knew Paul would need to be a part of, people he would need to meet. So Paul's decision to go to Jerusalem was not conjured up in his own head. Paul was simply following the prompting and lead of the Holy Spirit.

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Romans 8:14) Teach us Father to be led by Your Holy Spirit!

House For Sale in Southeast Louisville - 3 bed, 2.5 bath

2009-05-04T16:51:00.003-05:00

Our house went on the market today! If you, or anyone you know, is looking for a house in the Southeast part of Louisville area, please send them our way. I've set up a website with descriptions, pictures, and price. Visit www.7017ospreyridge.com the scoop.

Financial Miracle!

2009-05-02T02:35:00.002-05:00

"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

I couldn't go to bed without sharing the incredible miracle that took place today. A few weeks ago our van's transmission went out and so we began to prayerfully shop around to see who could get us the best deal. The quotes ranged from $4,000 to $2,500. After talking to my friend Jack who owns Jack's Muffler in Greenville, we felt like that was where we needed to go. Not only was it the cheapest bid, but Jack was willing to double the warranty at no cost to me. I saw that as a blessing from God.

So we had the van towed to Southern Indiana and waited. All the while Jennifer and I were praying for God to meet our financial need. $2,500 is a big chunk of money and so we prayed and believed that God would come through some how. He's a faithful God and we know Him to be a miracle worker!

Well...today I call Jack's Muffler to make arrangements to pick up the van and pay what I thought would be a hefty invoice and the receptionist proceeds to tell me that I owe nothing. What?! She wouldn't go into detail but she said that it had been taken care of! Needless to say I about dropped the phone:) God had come through! Not simply with a double warranty but a free transmission! I mean I would have given Him praise for a big discount, but to pay my invoice in full! God is awesome! I thanked Christie (the receptionist) and told her to thank whoever it was that carried out this blessing and then the party was on:) My wife and I celebrated all day and will forever remember this day as yet another day that our God came through on a miracle. One of many we will have the opportunity to tell about. I'm certain of that!

We have an awesome Heavenly Father who loves to bless His children and as the scripture above states, he meets the needs of those who have put their trust in Him. He makes a way where there seems to be no way! Thank you Jesus!

Resurrection Injection

2009-04-18T11:32:00.002-05:00

Check out this video Elevation Church put together for their Easter services. If this doesn't fire you up, your wood is wet! Go Jesus!

Help Lord!

2009-04-11T22:20:00.003-05:00

My family and I just returned from the Prayer Conference at Whitehorse and had an incredible time. I've never left a conference in West Lafayette without feeling built up in the Lord and ready to take on the kingdom of darkness in Jesus' name.

Before I hit the sack I just had the share a profound thought that Pastor Jeff Johns shared on the last night. Pastor Jeff had been talking on and off throughout the whole the conference about how God can bless His children even in the midst of a struggling economy. The heart of the message was that God is not affected by the recession so we have no reason to fear. But on the last night he made a one liner that I don't think I'll ever forget. He said, "Some of you are going from Psalm 12 - 'Help Lord!' to Luke 5 'Help Lord!'" In Psalm 12 David is in a fight for his life and is feeling alone and he cries out "Help Lord!". In Luke 5, after a fishless night, Simon Peter obeys Jesus' simple word of instruction to toss the nets on the other side of the boat and Peter catches so many fish his nets begin to tear. His catch is so massive that he cries for help for his fishing buddies to come assist him in bringing in the mess of fish. Both boats were on the verge of sinking from the abundance!

The lesson was this - We serve a God that can take us from Help Lord! (we're in need, we're struggling) to Help Lord! (the abundant harvest is so large, what do we do?!) and he can do it in the blink of an eye!

I don't know about you, but I'm moving to Luke 5! "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

High Ropes Course Pics

2009-04-04T17:50:00.010-05:00

It appears that God is opening a door for me to begin leading team building events with Mt. St. Francis and the Essence Retreat Center. I'm excited because I'll be given the opportunity to pour into people but it will also help me pick up some extra cash:) Today I spent the day in training under the tutelage of ERI and my day culminated with what they refer to as the "diaper pole". They name is given because many who get to the top of the 30 foot telephone pole and look down will wish they had a diaper on:)

Here are some pictures of the ascension, the countdown at the top, and the jump. I just wish you could have heard the scream:)

The Spirit of Love Center

2009-03-31T21:10:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to announce that I'll be ministering at The Spirit of Love Center in Louisville on Wednesday at 7:00pm. This church is so dear to our hearts and we're excited about having the opportunity to minister to their people! Pastor Derek Wilson, their pastor, is a spiritual father to me and I praise God for the love, wisdom, and prayer he has lavished upon me over the last year. This church means business and his forcefully advancing the kingdom of God.

If you desire to attend then visit their site here for directions. If you can't attend, please do me a favor and pray for me. I'm honored to have this opportunity and just desire to be a mouthpiece for God. He has a word for these people and I can't wait to share it!

Book Reviews

2009-03-17T15:59:00.006-05:00

I've recently completed two really good books, both of which made great deposits in my walk with Jesus. I thought I'd take a moment and give a review of each book. The first was Fasting by Jentezen Franklin. I picked up this book a couple months ago because of the stirring God has put in my heart to make fasting a regular part of my relationship with Him. I've fasted for years but I want to grow in this area. The subtitle of this book was, "Opening the door to a deeper, more intimate, more powerful relationship with God," and I can honestly say this book has done just that, for me. I loved this book because it was full of scripture as well as story after modern day story of how God moves when his people "push away from the table" and fast to draw close to Him. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:In reflecting on how Jesus began His ministry with a time of intense fasting, Franklin said, "If Jesus could have all He came to do without fasting, why would He fast? The Son of God fasted because He knew there was supernatural things that could only be released that way. How much more should fasting be a common practice in our lives?"

In talking about Adam and Eve he said, "They ate themselves out of the will of God for their lives. They ate themselves out of God's provision and plan for their lives and out of His magnificent presence." Wow!
"Fasting is not just a physical discipline; it can be a spiritual feast." Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).
"There are dimensions of our glorious King that will never be revealed to the casual, disinterested worshiper." I don't know about you, but I have no desire to be a casual worshiper! I have no desire to be ordinary!
"In the life of a believer, there should always be more private than public ministry to God...Victories are not won in public but in private." Wow!
"Fasting with prayer just seems to open a different frequency in God's ear!"
"Any time you fast, it is a hunger strike against hell."

The second book I've just completed is Catch The Fire by Guy Chevreau. This book was written in the mid 90's to shed light on what has come to be known as the Toronto Blessing, a mighty move of God that took place in Canada but has left a long-lasting global impact on the kingdom of God. If you know much about this revival you know that quite a bit of talk was made in regards the radical, physical manifestations that took place during this move of God, many of which received criticism even within the Christian community. What I enjoyed about the book was how the author shed scriptural and historical light on what happened in Toronto. Bottom line - nearly every move of God, past and present, has been met with criticism and controversy. It happened at Pentecost and will probably continue to happen in the future. It seems that when God moves beyond our experiences and outside of our preconceived ideas of what "revival" or "renewal" looks like, we have a tendency to move into "this can't be God" mode. I really liked how the author, Chevreau, incorporated excerpts from revivalists of old as they observed what God was doing in their time. This opened my eyes to the fact that the phenomena that was taking place in Toronto in the mid 90's was not really new. It was neat to hear the writings from men like Jonathan Edwards, a preacher and revivalist from the 1700's. If you didn't know better you would have thought as you read Edwards that he had been to Toronto and was reporting what he had experienced. Amazingly similar!

Here are a few of my favorites quotes:

In talking about what he saw at the Toronto Airport Vineyard Chevreau said, "All of this makes apple sauce of a fellow's theological applecarts." Love it!
"That's one of the things we need to have settled. As much fun as all of the manifestations are - and church has never been so much fun, the manifest presence of God is a radical life-changer. There is no record in the Scriptures of the Lord manifesting His presence, and people staying the same as before."
"When the Spirit manifests His presence, if often, if not always, requires that WE 'lose control'."
He made a funny as he looked back at his Baptist roots. He said, "I figured it was a significant manifestation if we could get people to lean forward, take out their wallets, and put something in the offering plate." Hilarious! Needless to say he was a little taken back the first time he saw the Spirit of God drop someone to floor.
In putting some of the physical manifestations in biblical perspective he quotes the Airport Vineyard's then Senior Pastor John Arnott. In using Saul's conversion experience as an example, Arnott said, "If someone in your church suddenly fell to the ground, heard his name called, and said that he had seen a vision, and was left blind after the whole experience, what would you conclude? And, how would you explain it to his mother?"
"A work of God without stumbling blocks is never to be expected."
"We should distinguish the good from the bad, and not judge the whole by the part." This quote would applied to the recent Lakeland revival. That's all I have to say about that:)
"God's desire to bless us is far greater than Satan's ability to deceive us. It is far healthier to focus attention on the wheat, and not the chaff, nor on the enemy sowing weeds." (Matthew 13:24-30)
18th century preacher, Jonathan Edwards, said, "A man's having much affection (a word he uses synonymously with passion and zeal), does not prove that he has any religion; but if he has no affection, it proves that he has no true religion."
"The visitation of the Spirit at the Toronto Airport Vineyard has forced many of us to reshuffle pre-suppositions and expectations; it has knocked out the ends of the box in which we had neatly contained our God."

Over all, I highly recommend both of these books. They have blessed me immensely. I'm now on to Sean Smith's, Prophetic Evangelism:)

Say Cheese

2009-03-09T09:36:00.005-05:00

Jennifer and I needed to get some pictures taken for the new Live Wire website (should be launching soon!) and so our friend Carol Davis came early to church last night and took some great shots. I posted several on my Facebook but wanted to leave a couple of my favs here. I praise God that my wife is beautiful, both inside and out:)

My personal favorite (above)

Monday Reflections

2009-02-23T17:13:00.002-05:00

Last night marked the two month mark for Live Wire and God is continuing to blow me away. In so many ways He has exceeded my expectations. Jennifer and I, having never started a church, stepped out in faith because we were certain that is what He was asking of us, and He has been faithful beyond measure. Here are a few reflections from last night:

First of all let me say that I had a sense of expectation coming in to Sunday night. I didn't know what God was going to do but I knew that a lot of prayer and fasting had taken place and that always results in a Holy Ghost explosion :)
I about lost it before service even begin. This deserves a quick story. Sunday morning/afternoon I was spending some personal time in worship and prayer and out of the blue this friend from my past came to mind. Immediately I made a mental note that I wanted to make contact soon to check up on their walk with the Lord. I hadn't seen this family in several months and wondered how they were getting along. Would you believe that thirty minutes before service, in walks the very family the Lord had brought to remembrance. I mean, are you kidding me?! They told me that that morning they had a sudden prompting to look me up on the internet and find out where I was. They found the church site and the rest is history. Is God awesome or what?!
That family was not the only new family to Live Wire. We had several guests join us for worship. I can honestly say that in two months, we've had new people every week! Praise God!
Worship was awesome! Our regular drummer didn't show so Meechy stepped in and rocked the house. It was his first time ever playing during a praise and worship set. You would have never known. It must have been the anointing:)
The Holy Spirit came on Alonzo towards the end of worship and he busted out into a series of prophetic songs. Oh my word! I cannot tell you how that stirred our hearts. Not only that, it confirmed in my spirit that the message God had given me was the very message He wanted to share because the reality was, Alonzo had no idea what I was planning to preach on, and yet his prophetic word ran parrallel to the very word God had given me.
For only the second time in nine years, I stepped to the pulpit with not a single note. God had given me a text and a general direction but that was it. But as I preached I could feel the anointing carrying me. I knew that the Holy Spirit was ordering my words. I have never in all my life felt the presence of the Lord in such a strong way as I preached. God was incredible and gave an on time word that many needed to hear - there is nothing too difficult for God (Jeremiah 32:27)!
The time of ministry and prayer was powerful. Both young and old were touched as God met them where they were and imparted faith and courage to face the days ahead. Wow!
Kim Piaggio cooked some killer tacos for my family and the worship team. What a blessing!

Childlike Faith

2009-02-11T20:51:00.004-05:00

My girls blessed me this week and showed me that they're getting it.

Last night the kids got a Valentines package in the mail from Mamaw Doerr and in their cards was five dollars each. Of course they begin strategizing about how they're going to spend every last penny. Well, Emrie decided to give the entire five dollars to "charity". I guess her teacher had told her about a particular charity that helped sick children. So she constructed a card, doctored it up with stickers and then paper clipped a five dollar bill (and one penny) to the card and took it to school. It melted my heart!

Then tonight Kayla blessed me. She casually made mention to her mom and I that she had given five dollars to Jesus on Sunday and low and behold on Tuesday got the five dollars in the mail from Mamaw:) She didn't say this to brag. I knew she had recognized God's blessing upon her giving. It's evident to me that Kayla gets the law of the harvest. When we sow into the kingdom it always produces a harvest. It melted my heart!

I'm just thankful that my children seem to be getting it...one piece at a time:) If only more of us adults had child like faith when it came to our finances.

Kids and Their "Lot" in Life

2009-02-06T05:02:00.002-05:00

I was reading about Lot this morning. You may know the story. The "mercy" sand in the hour glass had ran out on the city of Sodom, the residence for Lot (Abram's nephew). But God is merciful to Lot, leading his family to safety before the fire fell. Well, as the story goes, Lot soon settles in the mountains and a strange thing happens. Scared about a childless future Lot's two daughters conspire to get their father drunk and take advantage of him in hopes of becoming pregnant. Sick and twisted I know but as I read that this morning my heart broke for these girls. As I see it they were a product of their environment like so many of our children today. I'm sure these girls didn't get a vote when dad decided to pitch his tents near Sodom where they would be exposed day after day to sexual sin of legendary measures. And what about the time that dad offered their bodies to pacify a group of horny, perverted locals that wanted to sodomize his house guests? Tell me that wouldn't mess up your sexual identity! I put much blame on Lot for allowing his daughters to be raised in an environment that would corrupt their view of sex. Is it any wonder they acted as they did? Had they seen anything different.

And before we come down on Lot too hard, how many times have we exposed our innocent children to sexual environments that have distorted their view of sex. If you have no problem watching fornication on television don't be surprised when Junior invites his girlfriend to sleep with him long before the wedding day. If you feel like your stash of porn is an issue of "personal preference" and you talk about women like they're less then honorable, don't get bent out of shape when your daughter struggles to find a healthy self image and is drawn to men who view her as a sex object. She may have picked up from home that that was the way it was supposed to be.

I don't know about you, but this story prompted me to cry out to God this morning and examine the environment I'm creating and allowing in my home. I desire my children, and I hope you do as well, to realize what a precious gift sex is and to treat it as such. I want my girls to realize they are more than a cheap sex object. I want them to realize they are a valuable child of God who is dearly loved. I want my boys to realize this as well and to treat women with the honor and respect they deserve. God help us as we try and raise children in a culture that has seared it's sexual conscience.

On a side note, I found it ironic that the girls would eventually give birth to Moab and Ben-Ammi. In case you didn't know, the Moabites and Ammonites would become historic enemies of Israel. The lesson...sometimes we give birth to the enemy by our inability to run from sin.

Fear vs. Faith

2009-02-04T20:52:00.003-05:00

It's become very evident to me that in this season the enemy is unleashing a spirit of fear upon the land. Believers and unbelievers alike seemed to be panicked by the troubles of our time...and yet we as Christians have not been given a spirit of fear and will need to grab hold of faith as we move forward in confidence that we are in Christ and everything we have need of is in the glory. That being said, I wanted to share my wife's blog entry from today. It's profound! Read it here.

Waiting

2009-02-03T03:58:00.003-05:00

At the age of 75 Abram received a word from the Lord that his name would be great and that through his seed all the peoples on earth would be blessed. What a promise! And yet 5, 10, 15, 20 years later and there was no sign of God's promise coming true. There was no son. The child bearing age for his wife Sarai had come and gone. The reality is, Abram would have a 25 year window between the time the promise was made, and his son Isaac was born. Twenty five years of waiting on God! And though Abram got a little antsy and made a few mistakes along the way, his story encourages me, because I don't know about you, but there are things I feel certain God spoke to me; promises He has made and yet I'm still waiting. I've not seen those words come to pass...but I'm believing I will! And the enemy would love for doubt to creep in during my season of waiting. "Are you sure that was God? Are you sure that's what He said? Are you sure you weren't just making that up?"

Be encouraged. If God spoke it, if He gave you a word, you can take it to the bank. Be patient. Wait on the Promise Keeper. The wait is well worth it. Just ask Abram.

Oh My God!

2009-01-12T20:57:00.002-05:00

"Oh my God!" I've heard the phrase used flippantly for years. It's always bothered me but I guess the closer I get to God the more it pains me hear His name taken in vain. And it's not limited to the vocabulary of the godless. I hear well-meaning Christians use the phrase, "Oh my God!" and I wonder if they even know what they're saying. It's concerned me to the extent that a while back I had developed a series on the power of words and was planning to devote an entire message on this very topic. This is why I was excited to hear about a church in Florida who is launching a media campaign that will tackle this issue and hopefully challenge people to think about the power of their words, specifically this phrase we hear so often. Here are a few of the television ads they are running.

Opening Night @ Live Wire

2009-01-04T22:57:00.003-05:00

Before I call this incredible day a wrap, I wanted to make a post about tonight's opening service at Live Wire. It was off the hook! (Mom - that's a good thing) As with most things we do in life, we enter with expectations and hope the event lives up to our hopes and dreams. I can honestly say tonight exceeded my expectations across the board. Here are a few random thoughts:

Alonzo and his worship team were incredible! I didn't want to stop worshipping. I can't tell you what an answer to prayer he is.
It felt good to preach the Word again. I had so much to say and didn't want to unload it all at once. I love to preach!
My mom and dad drove over two hours to be in the house for opening night. They have always been such an encouragement to me and I love them so much. I am blessed to have such great parents.
I smiled as I thought of the racial diversity that was present tonight. To see African Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians, etc. worshipping God together was awesome. It was certainly multi-cultural and multi-racial. And in Palmyra, Indiana of all places!
I'm grateful for all those that partnered with us to make this night happen. So many people gave of their time and energy - from parking cars to greeting the guests to pounding hammers. A special shout out to the four adults who sacrificed tonight's first worship service in order to minister to our children. Praise the Lord!
Let it be known that the enemy pulled out all the stops in an effort to prevent this launch from happening. But I'm happy to say that he is a liar and a loser. God is faithful and provided victory. To Him be the glory!
For those who have been praying for us and our new work, thank you so much. You may never know the magnitude of those prayers. We are eternally grateful. Please continue to join us in praying that God would be glorified at Live Wire Christian Center!

Crave

2008-12-30T14:50:00.007-05:00

If you love to worship then you need to be at Covenant Community Fellowship in New Albany this coming Friday. They are having their monthly blowout called Crave. Their slogan is "No Agenda - Just Jesus!" They just go after the Lord and it's an experience that you will not soon forget. The worship is anointed. The people love Jesus and it's just awesome! The worship experience starts at 7:00pm. You can get directions on their site. Hope to see you there.

Does our community need another church?

2008-12-26T21:35:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to continue my series of posts which will attempt to address some of the Frequently Asked Questions concerning Live Wire. Today's question: Does our community need another church?

The birth of Live Wire has little to do with whether Jennifer and I think there needs to be another church in Southern Indiana. I guess it's worth mentioning that it has little to do with whether any other human being thinks there needs to be another church in Southern Indiana. That may sound harsh, but it's the truth. Live Wire is certainly not the answer to the latest demographic study. In fact, we tried not to allow human assessment and analysis to enter the equation (ours or anyone else's). Our decision to plant a new church in Palmyra simply boiled down to Jennifer and I attempting to be obedient to what we believe the Lord told us to do.

Last fall we came to the Lord empty-handed and asked the Lord what He would have us to do. We were willing to go anywhere and do anything. We even made some suggestions...most of which never made the cut:) The more we sought the Lord, the more He confirmed that He wanted us to start a new work in Indiana. Eventually, convinced of His leading, we said, "Yes and amen!" Bottom line...we are counting on the fact that God knows things we don't necessarily know and He can see things which we cannot see. Live Wire will be a success, not because Palmyra was starving for another church, but because it was birthed out of obedience to the will of God.

Because of the many obvious questions and concerns that we had, and we knew others would have, we felt led to detail how we came to this decision. It must be said that we feel that the Lord continually pointed us in this direction and continually led us toward this new ministry. God confirmed it over and over and over again in a wide variety of ways. We understand that not only is there a strong possibility that many people may never fully understand all of this, but we may very well come face to face with some strong voices of opposition. However, in love, Jennifer and I feel the need to politely, yet emphatically, state that we do not cater to the polls of popular opinion or wish to allow the fear of man to sway us from what we believe God has called us to do. We strive to love everyone, but, ultimately, we answer to God.

Live Wire

2008-12-24T21:26:00.004-05:00

Earlier this month I shared about the new ministry that God has called Jennifer and I begin. Our first service is 6pm, Sunday, January 4th and I wanted to answer some frequently asked questions in the days leading up to our launch.

What is significant with the name Live Wire?

The dictionary defines a live wire as an energetic, keenly alert person. It is also a metaphoric term that transfers a wire carrying electric current to a lively individual. It is our desire to be "live wires" for God's kingdom. Our vision is to plug into the Source (God) and change lives through His power.

The Presence of God

2008-12-16T16:53:00.002-05:00

There was a time that I was a bit perplexed when I would hear someone say, "Oh, the presence of the Lord is in this place!" I would think to myself, "Duh, the Lord is certainly in this place. He's always in this place. How can He not be in this place if He lives in the believer?! Recently I've begun to understand the different aspects of God's presence. I want to take a moment in this post to break down the three that I see in the Bible.

Scripture first teaches about God's omnipresence. This is the idea that God is present everywhere. God asked the prophet Jeremiah, "Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (Jeremiah 23:24) And David realized the omnipresence of God when he said, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:7)

Secondly, the Bible teaches God's abiding presence. When we enter a relationship with Jesus and surrender to His Lordship, the omnipresence of God comes to dwell in us. The Spirit of the living God comes into our hearts, unpacks His bags and makes Himself at home:) He abides in us and hopefully we abide in Him. Jesus said, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15:4)

Thirdly, the Scriptures teach God's manifest presence. And I think this was the one that so often threw me for a loop. To manifest something means to show or demonstrate plainly, to reveal. When it comes to God's presence, He at times chooses to make his 'omnipresence' known to someone or a group of people, thus manifesting His presence. The thing about His manifest presence is that it doesn't always look, sound or feel the same but it's always undeniably God. An example of this manifest presence would be when God appeared to Moses in the midst of a burning bush or perhaps Abraham as he sat at the entrance of his tent and God strolled up in the form of a visitor. A New Testament example would be when the disciples prayed in Acts 4 and God literally shook the place where they were meeting. Each situation was unique but all were an encounter with God. He was choosing to reveal Himself!

There's nothing like God's presence! I'd rather have five seconds in God presence then a lifetime without it.

The Next Chapter

2008-12-10T13:31:00.004-05:00

When I resigned from my ministry back at the beginning of October I took a complete leap of faith into the unknown. Literally, I walked away from GCC with no plans, no offers, and absolutely no idea of what God wanted me to do in the next season of my life. In every sense, my future was truly a blank slate. All I knew is that I wanted to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit more than life itself. I didn't care what it cost.

From day one Jennifer and I began to seek the Lord to determine His desire for our future. I knew that I had been called by Him to pastor; when and where I would have the opportunity to do that again was undetermined. At the time, I was just glad to be free to go after the Lord without constraints, and frankly, if I was never "employed" by another church I was content with that.

From day one, I had people approach me and ask if I would be open to pioneering a new church in the community. My common response was to tell them that I was seeking God and He would tell me what I was supposed to do, but in the back of my mind I was thinking, "Absolutely not!" I had watched over the years as pastors left one church and birthed a new one down the street. I wanted nothing to do with that! But I sought the Lord and tried to loosen my grip on what I desired. If I can be honest, what I desired was to partner with a dynamic ministry in the community and use my gifts to serve the body of Christ, not as a lead pastor, simply as a man of God that is hungry to see the church be the church.

It's been said if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans:) Though I don't think God is cruel like that, I have seen through the years that so many times, what I want is exactly the opposite of what He is calling me to do.

I think you know where this is going. Jennifer and I feel strongly that God is asking us to plant a new church in Southern Indiana and we've humbly accepted the call. Much is undetermined. All I know is that God is calling me to lead a church that sets aside the traditions of man to go after God.

We're hosting an informational meeting at The Essence Retreat Center in Palmyra this Sunday evening. If you've prayed about it and you feel the Holy Spirit pulling at your heart, please drop me an email and I'll give you the logistics of this first meeting. It will simply be a time for Jennifer and I to cast vision and for any questions to be answered.

Unpacking The Move

2008-12-08T21:57:00.001-05:00

Here are some tid-bits on our recent move:

We didn't make the decision to move back to Louisville until Wednesday of last week. Though it wasn't our first choice, we're trusting God that He wants us in the Ville for a while.
The weather and bad roads turned the one day move into an entire weekend extravaganza:)
Praise the Lord for friends...and lots of them. Much of Saturday's help returned Sunday after church to unload the truck.
Banana boxes make great moving boxes! Thanks JP!
Bridget Kay makes a killer beef stew! She fed like ten of my hungry helpers:)
Generous people make me smile:) Thank you God for surrounding me with them.
Knowing that you can't get everything you own on a 26' Uhaul makes one wonder if they have too much stuff.
Jennifer is rearranging the furniture and we've added some of my office furniture. It feels like a whole new house. I must admit, I love change.
I'm hoping the next move is the last one...at least for a long while:)
We very grateful to have a roof over our head. It's amazing to think that so many are sleeping under the stars tonight on this cold December night. How could I ever complain.

Hired!

2008-12-04T11:53:00.003-05:00

Well it is official! I have a position at UPS as an Inbound Auditor and it seems to be a great fit for the season I find myself. Ye haw! I praise God for this blessing as I know how tough jobs are to come by in this economy. He's a good God and is supplying all my needs according to His riches in glory. I knew He would!

I'm also grateful for Bobby Marcum and his willingness to work his contacts and give my name to the right people:) God is great and I'm continually amazed how He uses people to bless His children.

I start December 16th!

Liberty Temple

2008-12-01T08:39:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to give a shout out to all my Kentuckiana folk. Wednesday I'll be preaching at Liberty Temple in Louisville. I'm excited to have this opportunity for several reasons. Number one, the pastor I'm filling in for is a friend who is battling cancer and it's an honor to stand with him during this season and share the word of the Lord with his people. Secondly, I'm excited because Liberty Temple is one of my favorite places to worship - no joke! Their worship team is so anointed and they praise the Lord like no other! And lastly, I've preached like once in the last two months and I'm about to explode:) The Lord has given me some fresh bread to share and I can't wait to preach. If you're free on Wednesday night, join my family and I at 7pm. From what I hear they have children's programming. Here is a map if you need directions.

Rental Home In Louisville

2008-11-26T15:11:00.003-05:00

I wanted to put the word out to my readers that we have a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home for rent in the Southeastern part of Louisville (Buechel). If you or someone you know is looking for a home to rent please contact us before December 6. It's a nice house!

More information and pictures can be found here. I realize the site has it for sale...but at this point in the game we're open, and would prefer to rent. Thanks for your help in getting the word out.

Kingdom Economics

2008-11-26T08:41:00.002-05:00

I have some good news about the state of our economy. I know that the media has most of us convinced that our nation is at an all time low and on the verge of collapse but check this out...last time I checked, God is not controlled by the U.S. economy! The Bible tells me that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and I'm happy to say that not one of them is connected to the stock market. The Bible tells me that heaven has a storehouse of uncontainable blessing and the cool thing is, Ben Bernanke has no vote in whether the windows of heaven are open or closed. The Bible tells me that God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory, and I have news for you, His riches aren't tied up in some bank that needs a "bail out" plan. I say all of this, not to be critical, but rather to encourage the church. We need to be reminded that fear and anxiety pull things from the kingdom of darkness whereas faith pulls things from the kingdom of God. I don't know about you, but if I'm pulling on anything, I want to pull on the riches and security of God's kingdom.

Next time you find it hard to sleep and you feel anxiety creeping in be reminded of Paul's words to the Philippians. He said, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) Ah, the peace that comes when we realize we are connected to the kingdom of heaven.

Another Ah Ha Moment!

2008-11-24T08:44:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had one of those "ah ha" moments? Like the light bulb comes on and your eyes are opened! Well, I had one of those moments yesterday - right in the middle of the sermon:) Allow me to explain what the Lord did for me.

In Isaiah 53 there's this beautifully prophetic word about our coming Savior and all he would accomplish at the cross. And the amazing thing about these words is that they were written some 700 years before Jesus would come earth and fulfill them. But anyway, sandwiched in this text is a line that goes something like this: "...by his (Jesus') wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4) And for years I would hear people use this text to build a case for physical healing. In essence they would say, "Jesus carried my sickness and disease to the cross and by his stripes I have been healed." And though I wanted desperately for this to be the case, my tendency was to spiritualize that text and say, "Well...what Isaiah is really talking about is that we were healed spiritually at the cross. We were sick with sin and headed for hell but through the cross we are healed and have the hope of heaven." At the heart of the issue, I felt like many had used that passage out of context and made it say something that it didn't really mean. But yesterday, in the matter of a split second, as I pondered Isaiah 53, the Holy Spirit brought to remembrance the words of Matthew, and in doing so, snapped into focus the reality of this scripture. And the crazy thing was, I wasn't looking for revelation, I wasn't searching for answers, the Holy Spirit just connected the dots and ah ha!

For those that don't know, Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit quoted a portion of Isaiah's Messianic prophecy in his gospel and applied it to physical healing! Here's what Matthew wrote in his gospel:

When evening came, they brought to Jesus many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES." (Matthew 8:16-17)

We can discuss and debate all we want about physical healing but if Matthew - an apostle of Jesus Christ, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit - connected this healing crusade of Jesus and prophecy recorded in Isaiah 53, then who am I to tell Matthew he was in error:) Who am I to tell the apostle he took that scripture out of context:) Yikes!

I was reminded again that where at all possible, we need to allow scripture to interpret scripture. Thank you Holy Spirit for another "ah ha" moment!

Potential

2008-11-22T13:43:00.004-05:00

Here's a valuable leadership principle. It's not original with me but worth sharing. Don't promote potential, develop it. If we promote a person with potential before they have developed character to back it, it could prove to be disastrous for all parties involved. However, if we will take the time to develop potential in people our organizations will be stronger and healthier in the long run there will be fewer casualties of war:) Look for potential and take the time to develop it!

Still Exceeding Expectations

2008-11-21T12:58:00.004-05:00

I've been reading about the prophet Elijah lately. Today I read about the show down on Mt. Carmel. Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to see whose God was real. They would construct an altar, make an animal sacrifice and then call on their God to consume it in fire. He whose God show up went home the victor. So the prophets of Baal do their thing and spend most of the day crying out to their god in desperation - screaming, dancing and even cutting themselves. But no answer! Elijah then asks them to step aside and they watch as he too constructs an altar, makes a sacrifice. But for added effect he digs a trench around his altar and then proceeds to pour volumes of water over the sacrifice, drenching the wood and the animal to the point that the trench was filled with liquid. In other words, not real conducive for starting a fire:) Well, if you know the story, God shows up in a mighty way. He sends enough fire, not only to consume the animal sacrifice, but He burns up the wood, the stone altar, the dust and licks up the water! You know the fire was hot if it consumed rock!

Here was the thought that came to me today as I read this familiar story. I have every reason to believe that Elijah had great confidence that God would show up. Who does something crazy like challenge the enemy when you're out numbered 450 to 1 without a great deal of confidence. He knew his God would answer by fire, there's no doubt about it. But I have to believe that as Elijah saw his God come, he stood with his mouth wide open in awe. I'm certain that in that moment God had exceeded Elijah's expectation!

My prayer is that as you move in faith and operate in confidence in your God...my prayer is that he blows your mind. My prayer is that he exceeds your expectations and leaves your jaw pinned to the ground because He's an awesome God!

Crazy Faith

2008-11-21T09:48:00.002-05:00

I was just encouraged by this Francis Chan quote. He says, "Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to other believers."

If you get the chance today, read a few of his other quotes from his book. Perry Noble posted a few on his blog. These quotes are incredible.

Moving Day

2008-11-19T16:51:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest on our housing situation. I share because I know many are praying for us. We have set our moving day for Saturday, December 6 but at this time we aren't sure if we'll be moving back to Louisville or staying in Southern Indiana. We would prefer to live in Southern Indiana and have found a 5 bedroom, 2 bath that's within our price range to rent but in order to move into that home, we'll need to rent our home in Louisville...soon!

Join us in praying that our home rents soon! Also, if you can help us move on December 6th please send me an email or comment on this post. I know you all want to move on a cold winters day:)

Trust In The Lord...Really

2008-11-19T07:03:00.003-05:00

Every so often God will take a verse that I've had memorized for years and allow me to glean new understanding. He has done that recently with Proverbs 3:5-6 which reads, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." This verse has comforted me so many times throughout my walk with the Lord but I praise Him as He is showing me new things from this familiar text. Allow me to share just a few things the Holy Spirit has been teaching and re-teaching me:

I'm finding that the problem is that my willingness to trust the Lord is so often contingent on my ability to understand (in the natural) what He is doing. If after I've crunched the numbers and completely analyzed a given situation, it just doesn't seem to make sense, I struggle to trust God completely. But God is teaching me to lean completely on His understanding, not my own. This is a huge revelation to me! One that I knew but now I know:) You see, God knows things and understands things that my human mind is unable to grasp:) So even though I can't logically make sense of a given situation I can trust Him with all my heart because He's trustworthy.
I'm to acknowledge Him in ALL my ways, not simply the ways that are most obvious or easiest to turn over to Him. This means I acknowledge the Lord in my family, my job, my ministry; in every aspect of my life!
The word says that as I trust in the Lord with all my heart and acknowledge God in all my ways, He will make my paths straight. A straight path is typically quicker and easier to travel then it's crooked counterpart. Often we struggle and labor in our journey with Christ because we fail to trust Him completely and acknowledge Him in all things and therefore, unknowingly at times, we choose the crooked path. Listen, the Israelites didn't have to meander in the desert four decades. Their path was crooked because they failed to trust the Lord and acknowledge Him in all ways.

I'll take the straight path for six, non-smoking please:) And could we have a seat by the window?

When Was The Last Time?

2008-11-08T17:34:00.004-05:00

I've been chewing on a quote for about a week now. I haven't been able to shake it. We were worshipping at Cleddie Keith's church in Florence, Kentucky last Friday and as we entered a time of corporate worship he said, "When was the last time you did something for the first time?" Wow!

Do you remember the first time you...
stood to sing?
clapped to a holy beat?
raised your hands to the Lord?
jumped before the Lord because you couldn't contain it?
(do I dare say) danced?

I realized as I stood there, preparing to enter into worship, that it had indeed been some time since I had stepped outside my comfort zone and found a fresh expression to worship my innovative God. If I can be honest, in that moment I wanted to do something new for the Lord but my human nature has always been to stick with what is comfortable, to flow with the familiar. I can think back to many moments in worship where my inner man wanted to jump for joy or take off running because I was about to explode with excitement but the dignified outer man said, "Absolutely not! That kind of expression will verify to the world that you're indeed cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs." Unfortunately, I think most of the time we let our dignified and sinful flesh win out in those moments.

The thing I love about David, and more importantly, what I think God loved about David was that he cared little about being dignified. His focus was on God and expressing his passion any way he could. In fact, the time he was busted for jumping and dancing before the Lord through the city streets, he told his wife Michal that it was only going to get worse. He was a worshipper and he was crazy for the Lord.

Here's something to chew on as you prepare to enter the house of the Lord tomorrow. When was the last time you did something for the first time?"

Worry

2008-10-29T08:24:00.004-05:00

I heard the statistic yesterday that 98% of what we worry about never comes to pass. That means that out of 100 minutes of worrisome thought we waste 98 of them! What a poor stewardship of our thought life. What if instead of letting our mind be bogged down with these worrisome thoughts, we instead gave them to the Lord in prayer and began to focus on His promises, began to focus on the blessings, began to work through solutions. Paul said in Philippians 4, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Let us grab hold of our thought life and make it obedient to Christ. What are you worrying about today that you need to give to Him in prayer?

Prayer Specifics

2008-10-27T21:08:00.005-05:00

Many have asked how they can pray for us we transition into this new chapter of our lives. Here are a few specifics:

That God would bless me with a great job to provide for my family during this transition.
That we can rent out our home in Louisville in order to stay in Greenville.
That God would free up a rental home in the Greenville area - four bedroom.
Peace and understanding for our children as in many ways, this change is harder on them.
Clarity from God in regards to my ministry future. I know I've been called to pastor but when, where, how...I'm wanting to follow His lead.

Leadership Lessons From Saul - part 3

2008-10-27T19:31:00.003-05:00

I had originally planned on sharing about three leadership lessons from the life of Saul but the more I read the more principles that surface. I want to share another one today and who knows, I may add to this series as God continues to reveal things to me.

Here's the lesson: God often chooses scared, insecure people to lead.

It's the big day. All Israel has gathered to hear Samuel's important announcement. They had been asking for a king; they wanted to be like all the other nations and God was finally granting their request. Who would it be? At this point, Saul already knows he's the chosen one. Samuel, the prophet of God, had already anointed him in a powerful and private ceremony. But Saul's a nervous wreck. He can't imagine taking on a task like leading the nation of Israel. And when the nation is called to assemble, and Saul's tribe and clan are chosen, he's nowhere to be found. In fact, he's hiding among the baggage!

I'll never forget. When Antioch (my first ministry) asked me to consider becoming their youth minister I thought, "Who me?" I had never taken the first ministry course in college, I had never had an internship, and I really hated to be in front of people. I couldn't be a minister! I can honestly say that in that moment, if there was baggage near by I would have buried myself.

Two years later (now a veteran youth pastor - he, he) when the search team for the same church asked me to consider becoming their preacher, I turned them down the first two times. It was one thing to be the youth minister and lead children's church, but to preach in big church. Are you kidding me?! If there would have been baggage nearby I would have buried myself. That whole concept scared me to death!

I see it in scripture, I've seen it in others, and I've experienced it in my own life but time and time again I see God calling scared, insecure people to partner with him to lead His people.

So I guess if there's a lesson in there, it would be this: if God is calling you to lead and you're looking for a place to hide, don't be too concerned because you're in great company - Moses, Gideon, and Saul felt the same way. All chosen by God but all trembling at what stared them in the face.

Stay humble and continue to embrace the reality that apart from God you are nothing. He has a way of using the weak to lead the strong.

Leadership Lessons From Saul - part 2

2008-10-25T19:02:00.003-05:00

There are leaders and then there are anointed leaders.

In 1 Samuel 10 the prophet of God points to a catalytic event in Saul's life as an up and coming leader. In a private ceremony, Samuel anointed Saul with oil and told him that he had been chosen by the Lord to lead Israel. Wow! Before sending Saul on his way, Samuel gives him a prophetic word and through this word Saul is told that when he would arrive in Gibeah, he would meet a group of prophets and the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him in POWER and he would begin to prophesy with them (something I'm fairly sure Saul had never done before) and in that moment, he would be CHANGED into a different person. Wow!

In verse 1 Saul is anointed with oil to signify that he has been chosen by God to lead. But in verse 6 he is anointed with the Holy Spirit and this makes all the difference. With this anointing would come power and a transformed life. Here's the thing...yes, Saul was a head taller than anyone else in Israel BUT he was not capable, in the natural, of succeeding in this role, apart from the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

This is why Jesus, after giving his disciples the all-important mission of reaching the world with the gospel, tells them to return to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. This gift would come a power that would allow them to do things that they would not otherwise be able to do.

Even Jesus experienced this anointing. Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that as soon as Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him. In His own words Jesus would later say that this anointing empowered Him to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, heal the blind, release the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

There's a supernatural element to leadership that I think we often overlook. Sure, the world is full of great leaders but it's the leaders who are anointed with the Holy Spirit that are positioned to make the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God. They have been empowered; they have been changed. In fact, they're of a different breed; a supernatural breed.

There are leaders and then there are anointed leaders.

Leadership Lessons From Saul - part 1

2008-10-24T10:27:00.003-05:00

Over the next three days I want to share some leadership lessons that flow from the anointing of King Saul. Often Saul gets a bad rap because of his poor finish but none the less, he was chosen in the beginning and anointed by God to lead Israel. I saw several things in the word this morning that I want to share over the next couple of days.

The first thing I saw was God often chooses leaders from the least likely places. It's known that corporate America mines the great universities in hopes to find the next great CEO. Major League baseball scouts hovers over the finest high school programs and the most prestigious summer teams looking for the next big league pitcher. There seems to be an unspoken rule that if you're looking a for a successful leader, look here and here but don't waste your time here. But this is not always the case with God. Many times throughout history he anointed men and women to lead and it caught them off guard because in their eyes, they came from the least likely of places. When the prophet of God broke the news to young Saul that he had been chosen by God as Israel's first king his answer was, "BUT am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?" In other words, "Whatch you talkin' bout Willis?!" (Diff'rent Strokes humor for all you young people) Gideon said much the same thing when in hiding from the Midianites was told God was planning to use him to take out the enemy. And I mean seriously think about it - of all the places God could have chosen to have the Messiah born and raised, he chose Bethlehem and Nazareth! Are you kidding?!

I guess I'm seeing that God has always taken the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27). Don't think for a moment that just because you from Moncks Corner, South Carolina that God won't use you to lead a revolution!

Hungry Disciples

2008-10-22T16:30:00.003-05:00

Wow! I just watched a short video clip from Damon Thompson at The Ramp, a youth gathering in Alabama. He stinkin' hit it on the head when it comes to discipleship and if you're in any type of leadership role you have to read this! In fact, I would prefer you watch it because I'm not sure just reading it will do. If you're feeling up to it, visit The Ramp site and on their video scroll, click on Damon Thompson. The clip is only a little over a minute but it rocks!

"Because I'm telling you friend, if you would meet Him (Jesus) we wouldn't need to put forty programs together to teach you to follow Him. As much as I believe in discipleship, most of us in here didn't properly get discipled. I try to tell leaders all the time, I can alleviate a lot of pressure from your life by teaching you that you cannot disciple people who do not want to be discipled regardless of how great your discipleship program is. And I can also teach you that you can't stop people from being discipled that want to be discipled regardless of how sorry your discipleship program is. That's not a license to have a sorry discipleship program but what it is, is a revelation that when you get ready and you get hungry and you get serious about standing in God's face, you don't have to have a thousand people in the room, you don't have to have the best youth building, you don't have to have the highest budget, you don't have to have the coolest music, you don't have to have relevant pastors, you don't have to don't have to have smoke and lights. When you really get ready to see his face, 'Early in the morning my song shall rise to thee...blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled...blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God...holiness without which no man will see God.'"

Garage Sale

2008-10-17T13:20:00.002-05:00

The Doerrs are having are having a much needed yard sale tomorrow. We'll get started at 8 am so swing by 9564 Clark St in Greenville and pick up a treasure.

Depression Tithing

2008-10-17T06:47:00.002-05:00

I heard recently that during the big depression of the early 1900's an interesting trend was found. As people standing in the chow line were asked if they were tithers before the Depression hit, every last one of them said no. In other words, God had blessed the tithers even when the entire economy suffered.

I know times are tough but I think this story reminds us we can't afford not to tithe.

Peter

2008-10-16T21:26:00.002-05:00

I've with Kayla all day today on her 8th grade mission trip. I served with about 50 of her classmates at CAI. Before I sign off for the night I had to tell you about Peter. Peter grew up in suburbia Boston and by the time he was 34 he had made enough money in the '90's computer explosion to retire. He had everything the world deems a success - tons of money, homes (plural), owned some investment companies (plural). All the while Peter said he was a carnal Christian. But then he had a Damascus road experiene that would change the course of his life. He felt like God told him to give it all away. Give it away! At one time he was financially set and now he had nothing, in a worldly sense. He had stored up great wealth in terms of the kingdom. He said in a matter of time his fortune was down to a single dollar...And God told him to give it away! Wow! Now this single guy travels the globe and basically goes wherever God tells him to go and stays until God sends him elsewhere. Today he was at New Life International and I thank God our paths crossed. His sacrificial life was an inspiration to me.

Emrie's Field Trip

2008-10-14T09:51:00.009-05:00

Last week I was able to accompany Emrie on her school field trip and we had a blast together. I wanted to share a few of the photos I took.

This cross was found in the corn maze. Em and her friends wanted to "be Jesus". Precious!

We ate our brown bag lunch on some huge hay bails:) She loved it!

Em ascending the climbing wall with a big smile.

The Vulnerability In Victory

2008-10-10T16:04:00.003-05:00

When are you most vulnerable to the enemy's attack? Most of us would say we're most vulnerable during seasons of weakness when we're physically tired, emotionally empty, stressed, etc. And though I believe we are certainly prone to attack during these moments of weakness, I'm finding that Satan likes to strike in the moments following a big victory as well. I've seen this in my own life, I've observed it in others, and today I was reminded this morning as I read the story of Gideon in the Bible.

Gideon is minding his own business, living in hiding from the evil Midianites and the Lord tells him that he is a mighty warrior and that He is going to use Gideon to bring Israel victory, to which Gideon responds with something like, "What?!" But God did just what He told Gideon He would do. With an measly army of just 300 men, Gideon, through the power of God's Spirit, destroyed an innumerable Midianate army (you can read the story in Judges 6-8). But here's what I saw today. In the wake of Gideon's a miraculous victory he made a decision that served to be a "snare" to he and his family. In other words, he made a decision he would soon regret.

What happened was this. The Israelite people were so enamored that Gideon had accomplished such a feat, they begged him to become their leader. Though he would turn down the opportunity to rule and would point to God as their leader (another victory...this time over the enemy of pride), he would ask them to share some of the war plunder. He asked each man to contribute one earring that had been taken from the enemy. They of course obliged and by the time it was all said and done, Gideon had over 40 pounds of gold that he then melted and made into a gold ephod (an ephod was a priestly garment). You might ask, "What in the world does that have to do with the price of beans?" Well, Judges 8:27 says, "All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping the ephod, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family." I think Gideon made a decision in the brief season following victory that would come back to haunt him.

I guess all I'm saying is be careful as you come down victory mountain. I think Satan understands it is then that we have dropped our guard. We've seen God do great things. We're close to the Lord. But we can't afford to live off yesterday's victory. We're in a fight and we can't drop our guard. Satan is looking for an opportune time to strike. Keep your guard up.

I've Gotta Go

2008-10-07T21:50:00.002-05:00

In case you haven't heard, I stepped down as the Senior Pastor at Greenville Christian Church this past Sunday. It's a long story that happened very fast. For those that haven't heard, I wanted to post my resignation speech that was shared on Sunday. To all my family at GCC - thanks for the ride! It's been awesome!

I've said it many times from this platform - “I want more...more of God.” And I never imagined that that hunger for God and His will for my life would bring me to the place I find myself.

Today it is with much heartache that I stand before you to resign as your Senior Pastor. I understand that this comes as a shock to many of you but if you'll allow me just a moment, I will try my best to explain how I've come to make this decision.

When I was called to be your Senior Pastor 15 months ago, I came with an incredible hunger for the Lord. That hunger has only served to grow with every passing day and has led me on an incredible journey with the Lord that I wouldn't trade for anything but along the way he's challenged my comfort zone and tested my obedience time and time again. At various points in my journey He's encouraged me to let go of certain beliefs and grab hold of others. With each exchange God has taken me to new heights in my relationship with Him. For that I'm forever grateful.

At the same time, I've developed deep convictions in regards to allowing the Holy Spirit absolute freedom to lead the church and to distribute spiritual gifts as he sees fit for her benefit.

I want to state that one more time as this is at the heart of my decision. Throughout my journey I've developed deep convictions in regards to allowing the Holy Spirit absolute freedom to lead the church and to distribute spiritual gifts as he sees fit for her benefit.

The difficulty lies in that, this conviction is not necessarily consistent with the elders' positional stance on spiritual gifts.

After hours of meetings the elders and I realized that in order for the church to move forward unity in leadership would be essential. But after much prayer and seeking of Godly counsel, my convictions have not allowed me to come into alignment with the elders' stance on this particular issue. Therefore I feel I'm left with no other option than to step down as your Senior Pastor and allow them to find a man who can lead this church in a way that is consistent with their beliefs.

Please know this decision breaks my heart because Jennifer and I quickly fell in love with the people of GCC and felt that God had big plans for the future of this church. BUT if my ONE THING, as we talked about today, is God, then my allegiance is to Him and I must follow wherever He leads.

I want you to know that today I step out in faith because at this point, there is no other church, there is no other ministry, there is no other job lined up. I'm simply being obedient to God's call and trusting Him to lead my every step from here on out.

As I conclude allow me to say this by way of encouragement. Jesus has called us to walk in love. Regardless of whether we understand or even agree with the decisions that have been made, it will be vital for this church and the world that watches that we walk in love. It is not a time to be critical of divisive but rather it's a time to chase after the Lord and seek His leadership. He's loves this church more than we'll ever know.

All that being said, the elders and I have determined that today will be my last Sunday as your Senior Pastor.

On behalf of Jennifer and myself, I would like to thank you for loving and accepting our family from day one. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Greenville and have grown so much as a man and as a pastor.

I love you GCC and will forever pray for you.

Love is Green

2008-09-27T11:37:00.002-05:00

I'm excited about what we have planned in November. Love is Green is a Thanksgiving meal of love to Greenville, by Greenville. Check out this video.

The Unseen Army

2008-09-11T06:55:00.002-05:00

I read a story from the Old Testament that I don't recall ever reading before. It was awesome! The story takes place in 2 Kings 6 and the Arameans are hot on the trail of Elisha, a prophet and man of God. They finally track him down in the city of Dothan. It was night and the Aramean army had Elisha surrounded with horses and chariots and a mighty army.

The next morning, Elisha's servant, Gehazi steps outside only to find they are surrounded by a massive army. Yikes! He cries out to his master, "What are we going to do?!" And 2 Kings 6:16 records the following:

"Don't be afraid," the prophet (Elisha) answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Oh my word! That God would open our eyes that we would see the army that he has surrounded us with in the spiritual realms. To think how many times we panic our become frightened by our surroundings; those enemies that come against us. If God would only open our spiritual eyes to see what Elisha and Gehazi saw. Oh what a difference that would make.

Don't be afraid. God has your back even when you can't see it:)

Love

2008-09-09T15:55:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a pretty rough day. The enemy was attacking hot and heavy. By the time I got home from my final meeting it was closing in on 11pm and my family was in bed. But my wife had left me the following surprise. God is good and it's little things like this that put a bad day in perspective.

Glory's Well

2008-09-03T15:51:00.002-05:00

Check my wife's blog entry from today. The Holy Spirit gave her an incredible poem he wanted her to write. It's called Glory's Well. It's awesome!

Whose Plan Are We Pushing?

2008-08-28T07:49:00.004-05:00

In Matthew 16 Jesus begins to unfold for his disciples the strategic plan of God. The plans went something like this: Jesus must soon travel to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed at the hands of the Jewish leaders in power and three days later be raised from the dead.

Sounds like a plan we're familiar with but for Peter, he was not comfortable with the idea. In fact, he rebukes Jesus (never a good idea), "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!" In other words, "Jesus, this plan is a bad idea. I'm sure we can come up with something better. Something less painful. Something less... "

But in Matthew 16:23 Jesus turns to Peter and sets him in his place. And I've read this verse dozens and dozens of times in the past but this morning the words of Jesus struck me with new meaning and relevance. Jesus told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

And I thought, "Oh my! How many times have I been a stumbling block to Jesus' plan for the future because I had in mind the things of man and not the things of God. How many times have I been reluctant to grab hold of God's vision because I'm looking at things with my natural mind? How many times have I rejected his plan because I wanted my plan?"

Oh God forgive us for all the times we've been a stumbling block! May we always have in mind the things of God and may we always chase after your plan for the future and not ours!

Lord, we give you the eyes of our heart, fill them with YOUR vision.
Lord, we give you the ears of our heart, fill them with YOUR voice.

Jalen

2008-08-19T08:56:00.003-05:00

Thought I'd give a brief update on Jalen. He broke his arm in three places Sunday afternoon while at the playground (aka battlefield). After two hospitals, a cast from hand to bicep, and a lot of pain medicine he is on his way to recovery. He's probably most disappointed that his tackle football debut will have to wait until next year:( We had to turn in the pads yesterday having never made it to the first practice. He'll be out of school for a bit but hopes to return soon. But he's a warrior so he'll be back to his hyper self soon enough. Keep him in your prayers.

I'm A Family Man

2008-08-19T08:54:00.001-05:00

I thought this video was great. I praise God for the family that he has given me!

"Family Man" from Trevor Little on Vimeo.

FIREPROOF

2008-08-04T09:55:00.002-05:00

I get excited when a movie comes to the big screen that is worth attending and promoting. Looks like this September, the church that produced Facing The Giants, is releasing Fireproof. This movie will swim upstream in promoting the sanctity of marriage. Watch the trailer and mark your calendars.

Power Preaching

2008-07-29T15:30:00.003-05:00

Being a preacher, I've become a student of preachers. I love to sit under different pastors and hear the word of God taught. I'm finding that everybody has their own style and technique. But here's what I'm I'm also finding. There are some preachers that are gifted communicators, intelligent as all get out, can craft a sentence with the best of them, have a charismatic personality and are labeled great preachers. BUT then there are guys who seem to be at a "whole notha level". As they speak, there is no doubt that God is speaking through them and that they have been with him. You know that what they are saying did not come from a commentary or an Internet associate; it's fresh bread from heaven.

For some time I've been meditating upon what the apostle Paul told the Corinthian church. He said, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God...My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (1 Corinthians 2:1,4-5)

I've made a shift in my preaching. Yes, I will always work to develop the gift God has given me and I'll always work hard to prepare my messages but more than anything, I want to walk with God and share from that intimacy. I'm finding that if I'll spend more time praying then nit picking a sentence, I'm better off. I'm finding that if I spend more time praying about what God wants me to say than mulling over a catchy title, God seems to bless the end product. I'm finding that if I consult God before I check a commentator, I tend to bring more, not less. I'm not sure what's happening to me as a preacher. I just know I love it. What this world needs more than another polished communicator is a preacher that is willing to channel the power of God.

Water

2008-07-25T15:23:00.003-05:00

Since I was a boy I've always had a drawing to the water. It didn't matter if it was a farm pond or a state reservoir I just felt close to God when I was on the water. I've always loved to fish but I've recently found myself spending time at one of our local lakes simply talking with the Lord and meditating upon His word. It's been incredible. Sure, meet with Him at home or in my office, and I do, but there's just something about being on the water that reminds me of how creative and majestic my God truly is.

Today was no different. I spent the morning fishing with my friend JP. He and I not only share a love for bass fishing, we share a love for the Lord as well, which always makes our time on the water together a joy. Any day on the water is good but today was truly special; a day I will remember for a long time. Not only did God grant us a picturesque day (at least by our standards) but he allowed us to catch upwards to 60 largemouth bass between the two of us, and they were almost all on topwater. And it's almost August! That may not be a big deal to you but it makes me say, "Yeah God!"

I'm thankful to God for all the great memories He's given me on the water and I'm looking forward to many more in the years to come.

Dealing With Disappointment

2008-07-14T09:47:00.003-05:00

God was so good yesterday. I had been chomping at the bit to preach all week. Not only do I miss it after a week of vacation, but my time with the Lord in study last week was great. As I read over the familiar story of Joseph's plight, God gave me fresh bread to share with my people. I love when he does that! That makes me excited to get up and share.

Well anyway, as I stand up to do a welcome for second service, who do I see sitting in the second row but the Barrett family. I've known them since I was nine years old. We had gone to church together while I was growing up in Cincinnati. They were passing through on vacation and knew I pastored a church in Southern Indiana and hunted me down. What a surprise!

But for a moment, I have to let you in to a preachers brain. There are times that my mind is on two tracks. I'm preaching but at the same time I'm having a conversation with myself or a variety of thoughts are coming at me. (Does this make me weird?) But as I poured my heart out about dealing with disappointment I couldn't get Bob & Karen Barrett's story out of my head. You see, several years ago their daughter was murdered by her own husband, leaving them to raise her son who is now in junior high. I mean, talk about disappointment, I can't fathom the pain and disappointment they have dealt with and probably still do. And yet they ooze the joy of the Lord. They serve the Lord at their church in Northern Kentucky and are partnering with God to raise their grandson to know Jesus. As I preached my heart out yesterday I was reminded that yes, life is hard, but our God is great! It's people like the Barretts - modern day Josephs - that show me that with God you can mount up on eagles wings and soar above your disappointments.

I love you Bob & Karen! I thank God for the Jesus I see in you!

Apostolic Health & Wealth?!

2008-07-11T06:21:00.004-05:00

I don't know about you, but growing up in church, it was a common thought that believers who subscribed to a "prosperity gospel" were in left field. As if Jesus' preference was that His followers be poor and sickly. But if that be the case, it's interesting what the apostle John writes to his friend Gaius in his third letter. He said, "I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers." (3 John 2 - and that's in the NASB in case you were wondering) Notice that John the apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit I might add, said "in ALL respects" I pray that you would prosper (and where I'm from "all" usually means "all"). It's like he says, "My friend, I know your soul is prospering and I'm pumped about that. But let's not stop there. Let's go for the whole shebang! I'm praying that God would bless your socks off in all ways." To which many of us would say, "How dare you John! Since when have you become one of those health and wealth preachers?!"

Don't get me wrong. It's not as if I'll be stopping by the Hummer lot this afternoon or be sporting a Rolex on Sunday, but I'm done with the lie that the only thing Jesus cares about and desires to prosper is my soul. God is renewing my mind and I couldn't be happier. In the name of Jesus I'll gladly receive prosperity in every form and immediately turn it to praise and thanksgiving!

As for you, I pray that in ALL respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers!

That's My Boy!

2008-07-03T22:05:00.002-05:00

Our family just returned from a few days on Wood Creek Lake in London, Kentucky. I preached there on Sunday night and my friend Chris Jones hooked us up with a sweet lake house. I'm talking dream house!

I had a blast with the kids. We went swimming, played with the Jones kids and of course went fishing. This is a picture of Christian with his first fish ever:) How stinkin' cute is he! The kids had a blast but I'll tell you, after a few hours on the dock with four "high maintenance" fishin' kids I was spent.

Chris, thanks for the hook up! It will be a vacation that I'll not soon forget:)

I Just Have To Share...

2008-07-03T21:28:00.004-05:00

Today I was blessed with two profound thoughts that I just couldn't keep to myself. The first came from Bill Johnson and he was talking about worship. If I can paraphrase, he said, "We need to be careful not to worship worship." As one who really - and I mean really - enjoys worship through song I knew exactly what he meant. The tendency is to elevate the worship experience and therefore God is unknowingly pushed to the sideline. Here's how it sometimes plays out for us. We get bummed out because the regular worship leader is not leading today, or our overriding thought as we leave is that the song set just wasn't what it was last week, or the congregation just didn't "bring it" like they normally do. I think it's then that find ourselves teetering on the edge of worshiping worship. Nehemiah 9:5 eloquently states that God is to be worshiped above all blessing and praise. It says, "May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise!" Church, may we forever place more emphasis on the only one worthy of our worship.

The second thought came from Allen Tinneson and he was talking about forgiveness and said, "The door of our heart is only one door. If you close it to someone who has hurt or wronged you, you close it to God as well." Ouch! I think sometimes we fool ourselves into believing we have forgiven people that we really haven't. I know God really spoke to my heart tonight. Take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a person(s) that you've closed the door of your heart to and it has become difficult for you to love them as Christ would have you to love them.

How To Catch A Shark

2008-06-21T09:27:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week I shared a blog that connected the church and the game of basketball. I thought it was a great analogy. If you like fishing, here's another one. In fact, even if you don't like fishing, check it out. It's a thought provoking read.

One Year

2008-06-18T13:21:00.003-05:00

My staff just reminded me that it was a year ago today that I began my ministry at Greenville Christian. Knowing that I'm now without my local Starbucks they were generous and got me a gift certificate to the Hobknobb Coffee Bar. Can't wait to take my wife on a coffee date!

I'm telling you that God hooked me up a year ago when he teamed me with this awesome church and this dream staff. What did I do to deserve this!?

What The Church Can Learn From The Boston Celtics

2008-06-18T09:22:00.002-05:00

Whether you're a basketball fan or not, this post from Clayton King was pretty good.

Birthday Date

2008-06-17T12:47:00.005-05:00

Just got back from taking my youngest daughter, Emrie, to the local Mexican restaurant for her sixth birthday. What a fabulous time! With four kids it's good to get one on one time with any of them. We had sweet conversation and my only hope is that she knows her daddy loves her unconditionally. Praise God for moments like these!

This pic was taken by yours truly from my iPhone. I would have asked our waiter but he couldn't speak a lick of English. Emrie got to bust out some Spanish on him that she learned from Dora:)

Ears To Hear

2008-06-14T10:07:00.003-05:00

I've been praying that God would give me ears to hear Him. I now have them!

Twitter

2008-06-13T12:57:00.004-05:00

I've been hearing about this Twitter thing for some time now and have decided to give it a whirl. It allows me to make quick posts to the web from either my computer or phone, answering the question, "What are you doing now?" For now, my updates can be found on the sidebar to the right. I'll let you know how it goes. Let me know if you dig it and if you have any experience on Twittering.

And just for the record, I was flabbergasted to see my not so "tech savvy" friend, Evan Meyer, on Twitter. The dude doesn't even have a cell phone and he beat me to Twitter! Are you kidding!

Finally Moving!

2008-06-03T10:22:00.004-05:00

We're finally moving to Greenville and we're doing it Thursday! The church board offered to let my family live in the pasonage, that had been for sale, until we sell our home in Louisville. With rising gas prices and an increasing desire to be with my GCC people, this move comes as a blessing. I can't wait to walk to work! And walk back to have lunch with my family! How sweet is that?

On that note, I'm looking for a team of guys that would be willing to meet me in Louisville at 4ish (or as soon as they can after work) to begin loading the Uhaul. Our plan is to meet some more guys in Greenville to help unload later that evening. Let me know if you can help.

Bella

2008-05-26T17:38:00.004-05:00

Last night I picked up Bella at the Redbox. What a great flick! It's a fabulous story that was very close to my heart as it dealt with a woman who found herself pregant out of wedlock and debating whether or not to have an abortion. I won't share much more than that as I don't want to ruin the plot, but it was truly a great movie...and clean as a whistle. I highly recommend it.

I have to admit that I often think about Emrie's biological mom and what led to her decision to give Emrie up for adoption. Had she considered abortion? Regardless, I'm thankful for AA Pregnancy Help Center and Bluegrass Christian Adoption Agency for helping a troubled mom through a series of life-altering decisions. Praise God for His incredible plan!

Flash Point

2008-05-24T12:04:00.003-05:00

In firefighting lingo, it's my understanding, that the flash point is the temperature at which everything combustible in a room spontaneously bursts into flames, spreading the fire instantly. That's pretty powerful when you bring that over into the spiritual realm.

Oh Jesus, that you would bring your church to it's flash point! That your people would burn so hot for you that your church would spontaneously burst into flames!

That being the cry of my heart, I invite you to join me on Wednesday nights this summer (starting June 4) as we study John Bevere's A Heart Ablaze. I'm certain this group study will turn up the heat in your relationship with God. Sign up before Wednesday, May 28 so we can order the materials we need.

I Love You Mom!

2008-05-11T15:59:00.001-05:00

Tommy Oaks Weekend

2008-05-09T15:34:00.002-05:00

Join us this weekend, 7pm nightly, as we welcome nationally renown preacher, Tommy Oaks and his son JT. One of the first things I did when I arrived at Greenville Christian was to book these boys! You won't want to miss it!

A Joyous Ending

2008-05-05T09:59:00.003-05:00

I've known for a long time that God is faithful but yesterday He reminded me yet again. Allow me to explain.

Thursday is typically my last day in the office and therefore it's a good week if my sermon is done by the time I come across the Ohio River on Thursday evening:) But going into Thursday I was majorly behind. I knew I was to stay within the Holy Spirit series but beyond that, I hadn't a clue where God wanted me to go. To make a long story short, God gave me direction early on Thursday and convinced me that I was to talk about the joy the Holy Spirit produces but I didn't make much progress. I had MAJOR interruptions (and this isn't always a bad thing) all day and found myself nowhere close to being finished by the time I left on Thursday. Oh well...been there before. God is always faithful to get his message done.

Regardless of how behind I am, I try hard to give Friday to my family. They need me and I need the break. Jennifer and I took our two youngest to McDonalds and as I left I knew God had just given me my opening story (you'll have to listen to the message).

Saturday I got up early and headed to Southeast to finish my sermon. It provides a semi-quiet place and it somewhat close to home. I finished at about 2pm but if I can be honest, I just didn't feel great about it. It felt undone and incomplete. I felt like there was more...but that's all I had.

That night I slept horrible. I woke up numerous times feeling very nervous. Each time I would pray, asking him to comfort me and praying for empowerment as I shared the message He had laid upon my heart. I felt sure it was spiritual warfare.

Sunday it continued as I awoke and didn't get my normal quiet time as Jalen had a friend over and they were sleeping downstairs, meaning there was not a room in the house (other than the bathrooms) that was available for my normal quiet, alone time with God. So I gave the Lord what distracted time I had, admitted that I felt off my game and was unusually nervous but begged him to use me. I ran to 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 (as it has become one of my favorite scriptures to inspire me to prepare my heart to preach) and God reminded me of 2 Corinthians 12:10, then it was out the door.

Upon arriving at church I found my friend Bill and told him I needed to pray. I knew he would understand the attack I had been under and would go to the Lord with me. He did and God was so faithful. As I stood up to preach it felt like an out of body experience. I knew that I knew that the Holy Spirit was just borrowing my body to speak to the people of GCC. And He did it twice (9am & 10:45am)! All I can say is that the Holy Spirit was saying things through me that I hadn't written in my notes.

As I look back, I'm confident the message on joy was not a message the enemy wanted out. I could feel his attacks. But my God was faithful as He always is! When I had little to give, when I was weak, when I was empty, He came through in a big way! Praise Him!

Expelled

2008-04-22T17:15:00.002-05:00

Monday night, Jennifer and I got to sneak out to the movies and see Ben Stein's new flick, Expelled...No Intelligence Allowed. It has created quite a buzz in the scientific community and won't recieve good reviews from the mainstream media but that should tell you it's a pretty good movie:)

The Christian community whines all the time that there are never any good movies prodcued. This is worth the $9 ticket. If nothing more, it's good to remind Hollywood that we will pay for a movie worth watching.

Victory

2008-04-22T16:51:00.002-05:00

I've been dying to blog about our recent trip to Vicotry World Church in Atlanta and just haven't been able to carve out time. Here are a few thoughts from our visit:

This church is serious about prayer and has several service times just for corporate prayer. We decided to join them for the 8am Saturday morning prayer hour. Wow! We were blown away when over a hundred people showed up to cry out to God. It was powerful!
Victory has nearly 100 different nations worshipping together! They figure heaven won't be segregated, why should they be. Me and my caucasion wife were definetely the minority but we loved it!
John Bevere rocked! He was the reason we visted. He's my wife's favorite author and Atlanta was the closest he was going to be in 2008 so we went for it. It was worth it. We got the chance to meet him in person on Saturday night.
We learned a new song during worship. It's called Pure and I think it's put out by Gateway Worship. I don't have a link but I did pick it up off iTunes and share it with Barry:)
Overall, Victory is one of the finest churches I've ever visited. And that's saying a lot since one of my favorite past times is to visit churches.
Thanks to Kim Kane and the girls at Personal Travel for hooking us up with a sweet room at the Hyatt Place. Can you say free wi-fi and a 42" HDTV? That's what I'm talking about!

Vacation Part 2

2008-04-11T20:24:00.002-05:00

My vacation has come in two parts. The first part of the week allowed for a ton of quality family time. The second part started this morning. After getting the children to their various caretakers we headed south to Atlanta, Georgia. We're spending the weekend and have plans to listen to John Bevere preach at Victory World Church on Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight we ate at Thai Spice. It was a treat for Jennifer. She likes funky food and I obliged. I have no idea what I ate but after I picked out the big slices of onion, it was great. I think I can still smell the curry on Jennifer:)

After dinner we walked to Barnes and Noble where I picked up John Eldredge's new book, Walking With God. I heard him describe the premise of this book during a recent interview and I'm so excited to read it. He describes it as a how to manual on how to have a conversational relationship with God. The subtitle is: Talk to Him. Hear from Him. Really. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sunday Reflections

2008-04-06T17:17:00.004-05:00

Let me come out and say that this blog will not do justice to the day I've just experienced, but I must try. God has been so good! I prayed all week that the power of the Lord would be present today in ways that we at GCC had never experienced. Let's just say God is faithful:) Allow me to share just a few highlights:

The GCC band was on it today! They are coming together as musicians and are learning what it means to worship through music.
Barry taught us a new song today. Beautiful the Blood by Fee. All I can say is wow!
I can honestly say I felt the anointing of God upon this message. He wanted this message out!
At some point during the first service, Jeremy felt the Lord prompting him to grab some specific leaders and begin praying for one of their new senior high students who had yet to accept Jesus. They prayed and after the service, this young man came to Jeremy and said he wanted to give his life to Jesus and be baptized! We baptized him during the second service and it was awesome!. Please pray for Carey as he begins his new walk with Jesus:)
During the invitation time a young man I highly respect in the Lord came and asked me to pray for him. In so many words he said he wanted "More". Oh how I share his desire!
And then in the second service, something took place that in all my years in the church, I can't say I've ever experienced. I had just shared a few words preparing us for communion and I was preparing to enter into prayer when I saw a friend raise her hand as if she had something to say. Without hesitation I gave this young lady, a college student at UofL who I've grown to respect in the Lord, the green light. She said the Holy Spirit had laid a scripture upon her heart and she wanted to share it. She read from James 5 and talked about the value of public confession. And as she poured out her heart you could have heard a pin drop (and the children's ministry rockin' it downstairs...which is great). She then proceeded to confess two specific sins that she had been dealing with. She wanted to bring to light what had been in the dark, robbing satan of his power. She confessed that she struggled much with fear - "ridiculous fears" as she described them. She also shared how she often compared herself to other women and how she knew this was not what God would have her to do. Oh my word this was powerful!!! I've never experienced anything like it!
But it continued...even after the service. A woman who has been attending Greenville since last summer waited on the front row to speak with me. Her hands trembled with excitement and awe as she told me that since her first visit to GCC she had been praying that I would share the very message I shared today. She said as I progressed through the sermon it was all she could not to scream with excitement.
And then there was Ryan. He shared about his spiritual journey and how he had recently come back to the Lord after a season away. He described that he had always viewed Jesus as Savior but I was so blessed to see that recently had he made him Lord as well. God did a powerful work in Ryan's life today and he left with a clean conscience. That's priceless:)
And then the afternoon ended with my family having lunch and spending the day with the Suttons (Anita, Patrick and girls). What a family! I look forward to getting to know them even better in the months to come.

Overall, this Lord's Day will go down as one of the most powerful and memorable Sundays that I've ever experienced. And I'm confident that we're only scratching the surface. There's more!

Technological Purgatory

2008-04-05T14:55:00.004-05:00

My aunt, who has become legendary for sweet hook ups, bought me an iPhone for my birthday back in March. That's great...right? You better believe it, saying it's the greatest techno gadget I've ever held in my hand. But here's the kicker...I won't be able to use it until mid May! Oh, you have no idea how painful it's been to look at the box but know that I can't play with it for another month. The way it's set up is that Apple has a contract with AT&T as the exclusive carrier for the new iPhone. In other words, I'll have to switch carriers after being with Verizon for the last ump-teen years, but my two year contract won't be up until mid-May:(

So meanwhile, to scratch the itch, I resort to watching the video tour online and anxiously await the day my new phone is activated!

Let me know if you're currently an AT&T customer. Even more, let me know if you have an iPhone and how you like it.

Leadership Lessons From Jesus

2008-04-04T06:34:00.003-05:00

The gospel of Luke details how Jesus chose the twelve apostles. At the time he had developed quite a following, having many disciples. Knowing that he needed to designate a small group of them as apostles, he spent the entire night praying on a mountainside. When morning came he called his disciples to him and named the twelve.

Several things came to mind as I read this story:

It's important that we spend some intense, focused time with God before choosing leaders. Throughout the years I've seen too many church people flippantly placed in positions of influence. Jesus realized the enormity of this decision and spent adequate time in prayer before making it.
I can only imagine some in his crowd of followers were bummed that they were not chosen, possibly offended. "Doesn't Jesus see how much I love him? Can't he see how much I've sacrificed to follow him? Can't he see how talented I am? Why didn't he chose me? And what did he possibly see in Simon the fisherman? And Matthew the tax collector? Are you kidding me?"
Knowing Jesus would probably offend a few he could have taken the easy road and expanded his group to 24. Or he could have skipped the whole process all together, taking the path of least resistance. But no, Jesus realized he needed a group of leaders and he made the tough decision. How we can learn as leaders to make the right decision, which is not always the easiest decision and it's often not the popular decision.
And lastly, how incredibly honored the twelve must have felt to be chosen among so many! "Jesus wants me! To be what? An apostle! Are you kidding?! I'm just a fisherman...I'm a tax collector...I'm a zealot." How could these men know at that time what they were in for:)

Ablaze

2008-04-03T09:51:00.004-05:00

While studying for Sunday's message (which, by the way, I'm fired up to preach) I stumbled across this quote from Samuel Chadwick. He pastored in the late 1800's, early 1900's but listen how relevant this word is:

"The soul's safety is in its heat. Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul, make for a Church without power. Destitute of the Fire of God, nothing else counts; possessing Fire, nothing else matters." (from his book, The Way to Pentecost)

Join me in praying this simple but powerful prayer, "Holy Spirit, set your church on fire!"

Round 2

2008-04-01T19:34:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share two things of interest in regards to tomorrow's Round 2:

This is the first Wednesday of the month so we'll be having a yummy meal at 6pm:) Come with your appetite.
Bill Peake Jr. is preaching and it should be great. I'm excited to give him this chance and he is prayed up and ready to speak the Word. Come support him. I'm certain you'll be challenged.

Here We Go Again!

2008-04-01T19:18:00.003-05:00

Looks like Indiana will soon have a new head coach. Tom Crean will soon be wearing Indiana red and I'm pretty happy about the hire. Though I don't know much about him, I do know two things:

1) He set the bar high during his eight seasons at Marquette, averaging 20 wins a season.

2) He recruited and coached Dwyane Wade. Enough said!

The End of an Anonymous Era

2008-03-27T15:31:00.002-05:00

I happy to announce that I've changed my settings today and anonymous readers will no longer be able to post comments to An Open Doerr. Sorry if this presents a problem for any of my faithful readers but the time has come. Thanks for your understanding :)

Early Caller Release

2008-03-27T15:28:00.000-05:00

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Jesus as quoted in Matthew 28:18-20)

As I consider these familiar words of Jesus and his desire for His church, I’ve often wondered how successful we’ve been through the years in truly making disciples. Sure, people are being converted but are we helping them to become life-long disciples and followers of Jesus? Yes, we get them to the baptistery but what about after their hair dries? Are we strategically coming along side these new Christians and “teaching them to obey everything” as Jesus commanded us to do?

I’m finding that most churches are falling miserably short in this area.

Recently, Bill Hybels, pastor of the Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago and one of the gurus of the church growth movement, made some shocking statements in regards to his church’s failure to make mature disciples. Though through the years his church has led thousands of people to Christ and weekly they see 20,000 gathering for their worship experiences, Hybels is realizing that after three decades of ministry they’ve not been successful in producing solid, mature followers of Jesus Christ.

Now, before any of my mega church “haters” jump to conclusions please know that my experience has been that the failure to make disciples is taking place in the majority of our churches both big and small. This isn’t a mega church problem but there’s no doubt that it’s a mega problem.

As I see it, the church’s success in making disciples is two fold. Number one, the church has to realize and embrace its role in feeding the people and inspiring them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus, rather than people who simply attend church. There’s a big difference! For one group, church is something they do. It’s something they’ve always done. For the other, their faith is a way of life; it’s about a relationship with the person of Jesus. They’ve become a disciple and church is just one of the many things that helps them to grow.

And knowing the church’s role, we at GCC strive to teach the word of God often and with great depth. We want to grow in numbers and we’ve never been ashamed to say that, but we also want to growth in maturity. This is also why our leadership is working diligently to elevate our Life Group Ministries because we believe a healthy small group environment is conducive to spiritual growth. We’ve embraced the significant role the church has in making disciples and we’re continually looking for ways to improve.

But with that being said, please know that with discipleship also comes personal responsibility. At some point every believer has to become a “self feeder” who is aggressively pursuing spiritual growth on their own accord. When this happens Bible study begins to take place throughout the week, prayer and other spiritual disciplines become a way of life, all because we hunger for growth. We long for more of Jesus and we refuse to settle on luke-warm living.

As I read this book of Hebrews in the Bible, I get the feeling that the recipients were being chastised for a failure to take personal responsibility when it came to their spiritual growth. In Hebrews 5:12 the author writes, “Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”

In everyone’s faith walk, there is a needed season in which we need to be fed the basics, and milk is good. But there comes a time in everyone’s faith walk that we must move towards maturity. My encouragement to you is to become a “self feeder” hungering for the meat of Christianity.

GCC’s promise to you – we will work hard to feed you and teach you the things of Jesus and we will not leave you to walk this journey alone.

The promise we need from you? That you will turn up the intensity and take personal responsibility for your spiritual growth. Make your faith more than just a Sunday thing. Set out on a course to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus!

Guest Preachers Coming To GCC

2008-03-26T10:00:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited as over the next couple of months GCC is going to be blessed by two great preachers. Bob Russell is coming this Sunday! Bob had a successful forty year ministry at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville and is heralded as one of the greatest preachers in our movement. He emailed me the sermon he is planning to bring and I'm certain it will be challenging to us all!

The other preacher I'm excited about is visiting on Mother's Day weekend, May 9-11. His name is Tommy Oaks and he is one of the most dynamic preachers I've ever heard. A hillarious and yet powerful story teller that can preach like nobody's business. He and his son are planning to be with us Friday, Saturday and at both of our services on Sunday. And we're trying to arrange a Sunday night performance of one of their hillarious yet biblical two-man dramas. It's certain to be a weekend you don't want to miss. So go ahead and book it - Mother's Day weekend.

Supernatural Testimony

2008-03-25T14:56:00.001-05:00

Supernatural Story

2008-03-25T14:30:00.003-05:00

I told you last week that I had a story and video I would share on Sunday. Well, for those that weren't present for our Easter service and haven't yet listened to the podcast I wanted to share them both. The first is a story that was shared with me on Wednesday night after Round 2. Here's how I told it on Sunday.

Last Sunday during our 9:00am worship service, Tina Knight came forward during our invitation time to ask prayer for her brother and his family. Tina has been has been coming for about a month now and she was burdened for her brother. He’s a crack addict and it’s killing him and it’s killing his family. She wanted us to pray for him. So we did. We were on our knees together, right here, and I can't remember exactly what I prayed for, but I do remember asking God that wherever Joseph (her brother) was that morning, that God would touch him, that God would break him, even as we were praying. Little did we know, maybe at the very time we were praying for him, Tina’s brother Joey, a crack addict, found his way to church in New Albany. I have no idea what he expected to encounter that day, but he was about to meet a supernatural God because in the middle of the pastor’s message, the pastor stopped and he said, someone is here this morning that’s a crack addict and is planning to commit suicide. It was Joseph, who we were praying for, possibly at that moment, he was the crack addict and unbeknownst to anyone else, he was planning to kill himself. But God met him that Sunday. When he heard the pastor say that, Joey shot out of his seat and ran to the front of the church to meet the pastor.

That’s our supernatural God! He is not dead, He is alive! He always has been and He always will be, supernatural.

Thoughts on Easter Weekend

2008-03-23T20:19:00.003-05:00

I'm about to hit the sack but thought I might share some quick thoughts on the Easter weekend.

This was the first time I've ever preached three sermons in a row. My prayer was that God would allow the third message to be just as strong if not stronger than the last. He did it. My third message was more passionate than the first. Thank you God!
This weekend I saw 7 baptisms, a couple of re-dedications, and one who placed their membership with the GCC family! One of those baptisms was Jennifer's sister, Rebecca, who we've been praying would make this decision for some time!
My staff is awesome! They worked so hard to pull off a great Easter weekend. I'm so blessed to be a part of this team.
God is moving in supernatural ways and we've just scratched the surface!

Good Friday Turned Great

2008-03-22T12:48:00.004-05:00

Excluding Indiana getting beat down in their first round game of the NCAA tournament, yesterday was a great Friday. I finished my Easter message about 6pm and as it came together I felt myself wanting to jump out of my skin. I am so excited to share this message and I have a story and video to share that I can't wait to post on the blog, but I will wait until after Easter so as not to spoil it. I have been anticipating this weekend and this message for several weeks and I'm believing that God is going to do far more than we could ask or imagine!

Then we had a 7pm Good Friday service and the Spirit of God made Himself known. God anointed the message, people responded, the worship was powerful, there were three baptisms and what God did in the hearts of people that night, we may never know this side of eternity. But the evening concluded when, April, with her hair still wet from her baptism, shared a poem she had written. It was so incredibly powerful! To hear what God has done in this junior high girl's life. I can't even begin to do it justice so I will post it in it's entirety the days to follow.

Please pray for our three services tomorrow (8am, 9:30am & 11am). I'm certain God is going to do something supernatural. See you tomorrow!

Prayer request: My mom is now in Haiti and I would love it if we could cover her in prayer. This is her first mission trip and she will be able to use her passion for medicine. Please pray that God will keep her migraine free as she is prone to have headaches that are debilitating.