What God is saying to me

Well, this is another crazy hectic week on the calendar, but one that will definitely be spiritually encouraging. Yesterday's services lifted my spirit in many peculiar ways. We saw the breakthrough of Will Nott confessing his faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior after a long 16 year run from God. He was previously on staff here, but a sin disqualified him from serving...and that began a long, tough journey away from God. But yesterday....triumph, renewal, victory in Jesus! Really cool stuff and so blessed by Mark Warren's tears in this moving time...then Will baptized his daughter in our sr. high service! Take that Satan!

Last week I as you read, I spoke at a preaching conference in Indianapolis...some have asked if there are recordings of those sessions....there are...you can find them at catapes.com if interested. But today we begin our fourth annual "Power of the Word" preaching conference here, with guest preacher Gene Appel sharing with us. We have around 100 preachers (and fans of preaching) registered representing at least 38 churches. We have intentionally subsidized this conference to make the cost affordable for preachers to attend (least expensive conference in the country!) Why? Because we believe in preaching and encouraging preaching. This is what we are trying to accomplish...encouraging preachers to keep preaching and getting better at it. It will bless my preacher's heart.

This Friday and Saturday (all day) I will be in the final class of the Spiritual Formation degree program we offer here at ECC. It is about prayer and J.K. Jones will lead (and I will help some) us in several prayer passages from the Bible (Matt 6:9-13, Psalm 148, Psalm 51, Psalm 107, Genesis 18:23-33, John 17) and then we will have opportunity to practice several times of prayer. I will literally spend 15-16 hours studying and practicing prayer. That can't be bad.

I was thinking today during my time with the Lord that these two things are the things I want to mark my ministry. Prayer and preaching will mark my week and hopefully my life. Not everyone who reads this blog are preachers, but we are all prayers and I pray that you will spend some time talking with God this week and time in His Word. These two long standing disciplines will be a stable foundation for your week.

Preaching Nirvana

I'm in Indianapolis this morning attending the National Preaching Summit. It is a two day blitz of preachers and preachers-in-training sitting through about 8 main sessions and two electives about preaching. This event is held at Indian Creek Christian Church on the southeast side of Indy and they are expecting anywhere from 300-500 guys. I'm a little nervous because I am one of the main session speakers, but I'm excited because it's about preaching from the O.T. One of my favorites! Today I'm doing a main session on "Preaching the OT for examples of godly (and ungodly) living" the key text is from I Corinthians 10:6 which speaks to OT issues that a 21st century culture needs to hear. Then I'm doing an elective called "things I've learned over the years about teaching the OT effectively" not much of a title, but I've come up with 13 things...a Baker's dozen:-) Tomorrow, I will teach this elective again and then do a main session on "The "usefulness of the OT in preaching" the opening scripture is II timothy 3:16. I'm looking forward to this opportunity to share what God has done in my preaching life and is doing with my home crowd at Eastview....but I am speaking to preachers so that's a little nerve wracking. When preachers hear sermons they often have one of the following reactions: "I wouldn't have said that", "I have said that...better", "I will say that Sunday"... The deal is that a preacher can be very tough on sermons, because it is our craft.
So I'm praying for receptive hearts today...my audience and mine...I will teach four times, but I'll also hear five sesssions on preaching. I want to learn...to grow in my preaching...wish you all could be here...be back in town Tuesday night and then into a regular week.

Some God thoughts

God is everywhere..if you just look and listen the evidence is overwhelming....
I know most of you were not excited to see snow last evening (of course I liked it), but how random and unexpected was that? I walked out of step one last night after talking about how Jesus saves us and so we follow Him only to find the ground covered with a blanket of snow. A great picture of what He has done with my sin.
The last several mornings, as I have made my way into the day, I have been amazed at the spectacular sunrises God has graced us with. This morning the sun was a blazing red ball of fire, hazed ever so slightly with the frozen atmosphere. What an incredible combination...I whispered a praise to God
As I sat reading the Bible in my office...I noticed a small bird landing on the bush outside my window, displacing the powdery snow as he did. He was chirpin' it up and I wondered what He was saying..."Man, it's cold!" OR "I need some seed" OR "God is awesome." The Bible indicates he was probably singing praise to God...even a bird brain knows that God will feed him and protect him from the cold today. I wish I had as much faith.
Reading through the New Testament in the month of March and today was Mark 9 - Luke 1. Like a big breakfast to get the day going, I'm stuffed spiritually after this Bible intake. You know, it really is true...God's Word does replenish us spiritually. It was amazing how God spoke to me spiritually on so many levels as I read...here's one thing I noticed...one guy asked Jesus to help his son, "IF you can" and another simply said "I want to see". I want to pray the prayer of faith that simply says, "I want to see" and not one lacking faith that half-believingly asks God to move in a maybe kind of way.
Shout out to my brothers and sisters in Germany who read this blog every week. We've never met and yet I feel a connectedness to you through our Lord Jesus. My prayers are for the church in Germany today...and I'm amazed by a God whose kingdom is so worldwide and so powerful...all through His son...JESUS.

encouraged

Yesterday was a sermon about the encouragement the Antioch church received from the letter written by the apostles and elders from the Jersusalem church. This word "encourage" means "to call beside"...it's very, "we're in this together" and "lean on me" in it's meaning. The church is a place of encouragment and I can testify that I am who I am today because of so many encouraging voices:

My first and second grade Sunday school teacher (Avis Milford) encouraged me to love the Bible and learn it. Now in her mid 80's she still writes me a hand-written letter of encouragement everytime I write an article for the Christian Standard.

My mom encouraged me to truly love and serve people. I don't really live up to her standards of loving others, but I her encouragement to love is deep within me.

My dad encouraged me to preach the Word and to be optimistic (which I hope is truly faith, lived out). I don't remember exact conversations, but I know we had them about preaching and before he passed on, I'm sure he was my biggest fan.

My wife has encouraged me for the past 28 years. Even before we were married. She told me early on that she thought God was going to do something great in my life...and her consistent (sometimes loud and sometimes gentle:-) words of encouragement have carried me many times.

My staff encourages me almost daily. There are not many weeks where someone on my staff doesn't tell me that they appreciate being on this team and working together in the Lord. I'm blessed by their words....they inspire me to do greater service for God and make me want to be a better shepherd.

The elders encourage me. The men who I serve with as shepherd/leaders here constantly send me e-mails thanking me for preaching or leadership. NOTE: they also speak truthfully and lovingly about my weaknesses, but we love each other that much.

The people of Eastview encourage me. Even though I told people yesterday that I was not asking for encouragement from them, I have already received 5 encouraging e-mails this morning!

What's the point? The point is that all the stuff I am able to do by God's grace and His Spirit's power in my ministry has been strengthened by the Christian steroid (listen to yesterday's sermon for explanation) called ENCOURAGEMENT! So here are some questions for you to ponder: 1. Who encouraged and encourages you ....return the encouragement
2. Who around you could be so much better for God if you would encourage them?
3. Who has great potential but just needs a word of encouragement?
4. Who is about ready to quit, but a word from you would keep them going?

Answer the questions and then live out I Thessalonians 5:11 today.

more accountability

Accountability was the topic in yesterday's sermon and I failed to mention my number one accountability partner...my wife Sara. I believe this is the way it should be in a Christian marriage. We are in life (and for us ministry) "til death do us part", and so we owe it to each other to answer for all areas of our journey together. Money...I don't (and can't) spend any money without her knowing about it. Time...she has access and changing rights to my calendar...her emergency is always my emergency. Attitude...she speaks into my life about how I'm living out the Christian life (she has seen my very best and very worst attitudes...she's not afraid to tell me when I'm out of line believe me...and I welcome it..sort of). Spiritul life...she holds me accountable for comments, life stuff and goals I may have that seem to her out of whack with my faith. So, I have more accountability than I mentioned in the sermon yesterday...it starts at home.

But I do have "Timothys" - people in my life who are younger and in the same line of work as I am...I gravitate towards young preachers obviously...love trying to give them whatever wisdom I have.

I do have "Barnabi" (That's plural Barnabus') - Guys who will laugh and cry with me, pray with me, fight me and fight for me...This relationship takes time because it takes a proven track record and trust...I have five in my life right now locally and many pastor friends throughout the country who serve in this capacity.

I do have a "Paul" - someone who has complete right and permission to ask me anything and probe any attitude. I have had exactly three of these in my life and my current "Paul" is awesome...wouldn't want to do life without him.

I guess what I'm saying is I want accountability, so I look for it...even pursue it...because accountability helps me grow.

Balance

At the annual sr. Pastors conference I attend this week in San Antonio...as usual our attempts to be somewhere warm during the winter months has failed (it was 35 degrees this morning as I ran!). But I have already had breakfast with some great ministry friends...catching up on what God is doing in each others lives and churches. God is at work all over the place and it is humbling to be a part of His kingdom. I can't't tell you what it's like to chat with guys who do what I do. These guys understand the pressures, leadership challenges, and nuances of leadership that come from being a Sr. pastor...easy to relate to and a great place to be challenged.

Pray for me on Wednesday...I'll be leading the session on maintaining balance in life and ministry. This is one of the hazards of our calling as pastors...to get so busy working for God, that you neglect family, friends, and even God Himself! So, I'm going to talk about examples of leading for God while balancing family (there are no good examples in Scripture, believe it or not)...so we'll have to learn from bad examples and each other's experience. I'll conclude with a panel discussion of ministry couples from all stages of experience and life and then lead table discussions on this important topic.

Ultimately, this discussion embodies what this conference is all about: Talking to someone who knows where you're coming from...listening to the wisdom of others who are on the journey, and encouraging each other to keep going in the strength of the Lord.

what I think about preaching

Yesterday we preached about preaching and it's importance to the ongoing growth (numeric and spiritual) from Acts 5 and 11. As usual some stuff I write and think about in the office doesn't make it to the finished sermon....so here are some things that I deeply believe about preaching that will give insight as to why I preach the way I do at Eastview:
1. The Bible is powerful, lifechanging, convicting, encouraging, etc.... Therefore the thoughts of the sermon, words of the sermon, and point of the sermon must come from what the Bible actually says.
2. Preaching through whole books of the Bible keeps me honest in addressing the whole word of God and not just my favorite parts. By preaching through Deuteronomy, Luke, Acts, and heading into Genesis, I am dealing with texts that many have never heard sermons on before...and you know what...they are awesome teachings from the Word.
3. Preaching over the long haul makes more of a difference than one great sermon. My desire is to preach weekly with passion, spiritual insight, and hard work so that over a period of time God grows us through a consistent diet of his word. To me, the "that sermon was awesome" is a spiritual steroid...only several years of a steady diet of preaching will make the body healthy...so the preachers job is to just keep feeding the bread of life.
4. Preaching is an individual event for the specific audience it is delivered to. I believe that the Holy Spirit moves in each speaking of the sermon to each audience involved as HE wishes. This means that while the sermon may be the same, the third service sermon may be a bit different from the first service sermon. I think this incarnational approach to preaching is best...a real live human, speaking to other real humans the real live Word of God.
5. Preaching is a gift that God has given to people within His church from the very beginning. It is good to remember that preaching is one of many spiritual gifts and is not more important than the others, however, it is crucial to inspire, instruct, convict, motivate, and exhort those of hte body who have other spiritual gifts. So, preaching is not more important than mercy, but preaching may inspire those with the mercy gift to use their gift more effectively.
6. Preaching is where the best leadership takes place. I think that I have a leadership gift, but more I think I'm a preacher and that my best visionary leadership comes from preaching the Word. There are some who complain about not being able to lead their leaders or congregations to go in certain spiritual places. I always respond, "If this is a God's vision, why not preach them there?"
7. Preaching is an honor and a burden. It is hard work and incredible fun. To preach means to carry the burden of communicating on behalf of God and it is the privilege of saying, "Thus sayeth the Lord." Those who don't preach would be surprised at two things: It is so hard it can give you a headache and even old guys like me still get nervous AND it is so fun, there are not many things in life I would rather do.
8. Preaching is definitely affected by the listeners. I am privileged to preach in a setting where people are ready (even anxious) to hear the word of God...this makes it so much easier. Of course, there are those who aren't listening, don't want to listen and can't listen because of distractions, but the influence of listeners around them draw them into the teaching. It is amazing to watch even as I'm preaching.