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Dreamers

Are you living a safe life without failure? Or are you living your greatest dream? Are you stepping out to attempt to live the dream that God has put deep within you? Decide today to live as a movement of love connected with the community of faith.

Before we were born, we were a dream in the heart of God. There is a divine dream implanted in you. Are you living it? Are you living the greatest dream (in spite of the fear it brings)?

There is a dream within you that causes you to say, "I cant". Its this dream that God calls you to embark on. The one that causes certain levels of fear. Impossible. This dream may not be fulfilled. However, the greatest pain you can feel is the pain of regret. Standing at the end of life feeling a deep sense of regret and lack of trust in yourself and in the God that called you. Failing at the dream is significantly less painful than never trying to live it.

God has given all of us the greatest Christmas gift ever! Jesus Christ and the grace of God for eternal life. With this Christmas recall the gift of the dream that God has placed within us. Over the next year commit to ATTEMPTING the dream. Commit to stepping out, sink or swim. Live the dream. I am here for the journey with you. I believe many will succeed. I believe we will change the world.

God bless and Merry Christmas

Mixed emotions....

Today I feel a bombardment of emotions. There are a number of things happening around me.

Of course we are one week out from Christmas and that brings much joy and peace. (Not to mention the time off!) However, as a Pastor, I know that this season of joy and gladness often fills hearts with depression. Suicide rates and depression increases dramatically during this time. This year it has touched our church. We had a family experience a suicide in their family this week....I got the call. Saddened doesn't do it justice.

A lighter note...this is my last sermon in Oasis....a Wednesday night ministry I launched on March 3rd of 2oo4. It's the right thing and the right time to move on, but......

I also heard this week that a friend from school is being promoted. This saddens me as well. Not because we are the same age and he is now leading the largest church in our denomination. Not because I am jealous or think he is unworthy. I believe in him. I know he is called. I know he can and will do it. I just know he did not want it this way. No son could. I have been thinking about it as if it were me. I pray for you Jason. I cannot imagine. No judgment, no ill will, no secret celebrations....I am broken for your family. I love you and your father. He has had a great impact in such a little time with me (one ride to and from the airport). I pray for grace from the family, grace from the congregation, grace from the community, grace from the denomination, grace from God. I know you will never hear these words, but they are prayed and God will sustain you.

Other emotions....

I am excited....we are having our third child in January. We are celebrating our 1st year at Turkey Creek Church. We are launching a new prayer and fasting initiative. I sense God is preparing TC and PW for great things this year. I want to be ready.

I pray for you that God would prepare you for this coming year with anointing and wisdom for the harvest.......

God bless

Perfect Storm wrap up...

Today we wrap up our series on the Perfect Storm. I have truly been encouraged (should not be shocked by that) from studying the Scriptures for our navigational points during the storm. Any authentic study of the Scripture, of course, reminds us of His Sovereignty. If He truly knew you and I before we even existed or before we were even formed within our mother's womb, AND He states boldly that He has a crazy good plan for our lives even then; well, shouldn't we trust Him then. Earthly father good gifts, Heavenly good gifts, greater works we will do, He will not put more on us than we can bare, My peace I leave with you, not leave you as orphans, never leave you nor forsake you, and on and on and on go the promises!!! Our role is found in the old hymn, Trust and obey for there's no other way....We must keep our eyes fix on the author and finisher of our faith Jesus Christ. That's it. Simple. No complicated formulas, no elaborate memorization, simply stay focused on Him. Don't look at the wind and waves that attempts to distract you (economy, political unrest, relational struggles..you get the picture). We fight battles sometimes when we should be letting Christ our big brother, who has already won, fight for us by keeping our eyes on Him.

Are we crying...

9 And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. Neh. 9:9-10

Are we crying? Are we crying out of a heart for and toward God? When we do, then He will. Think about that. Man2Man Project last night woke me up concerning Life Changing prayer. Craig spoke about Charles Finney and his passionate faith and child-like trust. He demonstrated time and time again a public boldness with ridiculous and audacious prayers that God ANSWERED in God only style, leaving NO room for doubt. Much of our prayers are not even public enough for others to witness if God answered. Furthermore, they are so weak in nature that it truly doesn't take God to answer many of them.

I pray for a heart that trusts and obeys God; that seeks Him first and foremost

Being Who We Are...

Self discovery and identification are ever continuing processes. Just when I feel as if I am closing in on authentically identifying my spiritual and ministerial DNA, I come along something or someone that challenges me to dig to another level. Mark Batterson has done this recently in his post on rebranding. I feel like Turkey Creek Community Church is well on our way, however, we must passionately discover God's calling and our unique design in His plan. Check out Mark's blog and let me know what you think personally and corporate, especially if you are a part of our team.

God bless,

Kaleo...

I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges and promises of this series. Kaleo, the Greek word for calling, is a dynamic message series from Lifechurch.tv. I am excited about the possibilities of our people truly capturing the essence of this last message; Called to Make Disciples. In just a couple of short hours I will exhort our community of faith to be disciples and to make disciples. There is a stark difference in being a cultural Christian and a disciple of Christ. Every individual follower of Christ, Christian family, community of faith, church and denomination is commissioned by Christ and empowered by His Holy Spirit to go and make disciples. Unfortunately, we have programmed discipleship into a two-hour structured process of the physical church. By this, I mean, we rely on Sunday School and Family Training Hour (Wednesday evening classes) to function as our discipleship. Creative churches (yes, sense the hint of sarcasism) program "organic" discipleship programs within homes, calling them small groups. While this is seems to be a better approach it still, at times, missses the point of our Great Commission. Christ's intentional (incarnational) model of missional discipleship is all inclusive. When I recall the term, "all-inclusive", I experience warm memories of my honeymoon. However, Christ's approach to disciple-making is quite simple: everything, everywhere, everyone and everyway provides an opportunity for a teaching experience. Not only is discipleship sitting around in a circle, (or in neatly formed rows anticipating a lecture) and discussing passages of Scripture. Discipleship, at the fundamental level, is learning to do life in the image of God within the community of faith. Often churches preach well about loving God and others, however, we have forgotten to instruct how to love our neighbor as ourselves. Isn't this the second greatest commandment and like the first, effectually making the basis of the Great Commission the Great Commandment? We have forgotten to live in community, bearing one another's burdens, prefering our brother over ourself, demonstrating that we are truly His disciples because we have love one for another.

If Turkey Creek Community Church captures the essence of this message and we become empowered disciple makers, our community will be supernaturally revolutionized by the power of the Holy Spirit and our godly witness. Pray for us.