3 John 1:2 (NKJV)
Beloved, I pray above all things that you prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers.
1500 pastors leave the ministry ever month – they are just done.
50% of all pastors’ marriages end up in divorce.
80% of pastors feel unqualified
50% would leave if they had another job to go to.
80% of bible college students leave half way through and never enter ministry
70% fight constant depression
40% have confessed to adultery while pastoring
40% only read their bible to get a sermon
80% wish their spouse would quit the ministry
Ministry is brutal, it is harsh, it is ruthless, it is constant and it will kill you if you allow it. It will kill your marriage, your kids and your self worth. Its so important that our soul prospers while doing what it is that God has called us to. Let me give you over the next couple of blogs some checklists on How I know when my soul is pospering.
1. WHEN GOOD PEOPLE WANT TO BE AROUND YOU
Have you noticed that the outsiders and the spiritually hungry wanted to be around Jesus but the Pharisees and religious leaders didn’t.
If your soul isn’t healthy then you will find that good, strong people wont stay with you because they will intimidate you.
YOU CAN TELL A LOT ABOUT A CHURCH BY WHO LEAVES AND WHO STAYS.
2. WHEN YOU KNOW THE POWER OF A GOOD REPORT
People don’t see things as they are they see it as they think they are.
What are the names of the 2 spies who brought back a good report to Moses? We all know this, Joshua and Caleb. But what are the names of the other 10? They are mentioned but none of us have taken the time to discover their names, why? Because they never build monuments to critics.
More soon!!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
CAN ONE PERSON REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Kathy arrived home from Cambodia early Friday morning with so many disturbing stories to share about what goes on in the lives of children in Cambodia. This really is a world that is in desperate need of a saviour. The wickedness of a human heart is a scary thing. Whilst they were there they managed to lead a number of kids to Christ, buy them some clothing and then position some of them into orphanages where they can be protected from the 24/7 prowling of perversion.
As a church we are presently seeking God on where He wants our energy and faith when it comes to over sea's, we are active locally but were desiring to "make ripples" internationally. The problem is that there are needs wherever you look. Its not, "God what should we do, where should we go", its God, "where do we stop?" The need is quite overwhelming.
The picture is of one of the children who lived on the street with one of the many barbie dolls that he ladies took over.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” -- Edmund Burke
Can one person or a small group of people or a large contingent of people really make a difference? I think that they can! Get a dream for your life and see what God can do.
A VISION IS A CLEAR MENTAL PICTURE OF WHAT COULD BE, FUELED BY A CONVICTION OF WHAT SHOULD BE.
IT IS INNER PICTURE OF A PREFERRED FUTURE
IT IS INNER PICTURE OF A PREFERRED FUTURE
Every "difference maker" has a conviction that things don't need to be the way they are. Whats your "preferred picture" for your life?
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
WHAT A WOMAN
My wife Kathy has been in Cambodia for 3 days and I'm counting. She rang today to let me know that they were on there way to another orphanage that works with girls that have been rescued from prostitution. Sometimes I have to pinch myself with how much she has grown and embraced this new season of our lives. I am so proud of her for wanting to make ripples with her life. As a church we are entering an extremely busy time with 2 building programs plus local community developments, a Kokoda trail trek and everything else that happens in life. Its awesome!
Friday, February 8, 2008
GENESIS WEEK
Psalm 51:10 (Msg) God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
What a great thought. Asking God to shape and mould from the ruin of our lives something special. This is a powerful prayer to pray!
Kathy is off in 2 days to Cambodia where she is teaming up with some other girls, they are working with the rescue homes that we are involved with. Basically these homes rescue girls from prostitution and then hide them away in secure homes. Im so proud of my wife and even though she is nervous I know that God will do some "Genesis shaping" in her life.
What a great thought. Asking God to shape and mould from the ruin of our lives something special. This is a powerful prayer to pray!
Kathy is off in 2 days to Cambodia where she is teaming up with some other girls, they are working with the rescue homes that we are involved with. Basically these homes rescue girls from prostitution and then hide them away in secure homes. Im so proud of my wife and even though she is nervous I know that God will do some "Genesis shaping" in her life.
Monday, February 4, 2008
WHOSE YOUR DADDY?
This past Sunday we started our series called Identity Theft and we kicked it off talking about where we draw our identity from.
Your self concept – the way you see yourself – is determined by what you base your identity on, and you have lots of choices.
· Looks
· Intelligence
· Wher you live
· What you do
· What you wear
· Who you hang with
Thomas Harvey completed the autopsy on Albert Einstein then stole his brain and kept it in a Tupperware container for the next 43 yrs. Then he began to shape his whole identity around it.
· Looks
· Intelligence
· Wher you live
· What you do
· What you wear
· Who you hang with
Thomas Harvey completed the autopsy on Albert Einstein then stole his brain and kept it in a Tupperware container for the next 43 yrs. Then he began to shape his whole identity around it.
Identity problems are simply the by product of basing your identity on the wrong thing.
In the book of Corinthians Paul writes:
1 Cor. 4:15 (Msg)
There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father.
· 90% of homeless and run away teens come from fatherless homes.
· And 85% of all youth in prisons grew up in a fatherless home
· 75% of people in drug abuse centres come from fatherless homes.
· 1/3 of live births are to unmarried women.
· 90% of prisoners say they never had a loving relationship with their fathers.
Maybe Paul's generation suffered from a similar disease as our generation has called, The absent father syndrome, which means: The ongoing social, spiritual and emotional deficit that people will be filled by other means.
When we say the word father it can either be a bad word or a great word. Your dad may have always physically been there but never emotionally there, or maybe you have never known him or maybe your parents just couldnt seem to get it togther so they went their own way.
Have you ever wondered why sporting stars, movie stars will look into a T.V camera and say the words, “Hi mum?”
Is it because they have had no father figure of worth in their life. They have over achieved in their lives hoping that one day dad is going to say, “Well done son”.
When God looks at you He see’s you from the eyes of a Father. He is the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end. So when he looks at us he is at the end seeing what we are to become.
And He is calling us into that picture.
Matthew 3:17 (Msg)
And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life."
Whoever names you determines your destiny
This wasn’t for John to get the revelation, it wasn’t for the crowd to hear who Jesus was but it was for Christ Himself to know the affirmation of His father.
As a child there are 3 things that must be heard from your father:
· I love you
· I’m proud of you - affirmed
· You’re good at ???
There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father.
· 90% of homeless and run away teens come from fatherless homes.
· And 85% of all youth in prisons grew up in a fatherless home
· 75% of people in drug abuse centres come from fatherless homes.
· 1/3 of live births are to unmarried women.
· 90% of prisoners say they never had a loving relationship with their fathers.
Maybe Paul's generation suffered from a similar disease as our generation has called, The absent father syndrome, which means: The ongoing social, spiritual and emotional deficit that people will be filled by other means.
When we say the word father it can either be a bad word or a great word. Your dad may have always physically been there but never emotionally there, or maybe you have never known him or maybe your parents just couldnt seem to get it togther so they went their own way.
Have you ever wondered why sporting stars, movie stars will look into a T.V camera and say the words, “Hi mum?”
Is it because they have had no father figure of worth in their life. They have over achieved in their lives hoping that one day dad is going to say, “Well done son”.
When God looks at you He see’s you from the eyes of a Father. He is the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end. So when he looks at us he is at the end seeing what we are to become.
And He is calling us into that picture.
Matthew 3:17 (Msg)
And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life."
Whoever names you determines your destiny
This wasn’t for John to get the revelation, it wasn’t for the crowd to hear who Jesus was but it was for Christ Himself to know the affirmation of His father.
As a child there are 3 things that must be heard from your father:
· I love you
· I’m proud of you - affirmed
· You’re good at ???
Maybe you have never heard your earthly father tell you this or maybe you have, but until you know that this is what God thinks about you, that this is how He see's you then we can be tempted to base our identity on something else. God thinks that you are amazing! He loves you, He is proud of you and He thinks you are great when you are doing what He designed you to do.
Friday, February 1, 2008
MAKING RIPPLES
You don't have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by a few great things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don't have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don't have to have to have good looks or riches; you don't have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them.
A layman by the name of Edward Kimball taught his church’s Sunday School class weekly, he really wanted to make a difference. He wanted to see many people come to Christ. He was burdened with a young man who attended this class. Although a shy person he entered a shoe store where this young man worked as a sales person. It was here that Edward Kimball said to this man, “I want to tell you how much Christ loves you”, and it was at that moment that he led Dwight L. Moody to Christ.
Dwight went on to be one of the greatest preachers of modern history seeing millons attend his meetings and hundreds of thousands come to Christ.
When Moody was out preaching one day, a man named Frederick Meyer was listening. Meyer was already a Christian, but Moody's preaching motivated him to enter full-time ministry. We know him as F.B. Meyer. Kimball reached Moody, and Moody reached Meyer, but the story doesn't end there.When Meyer was preaching, a young man named Wilbur Chapman responded and gave his life to Christ. Chapman felt called to be an evangelist. One of the young men he took under his wing was a former professional baseball player who, also wanted to preach the gospel and did so with great success.
His name was Billy Sunday.Sunday held a crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina, where many people came to faith. The people there were so thrilled that they wanted to have another crusade. Sunday wasn't available, so a young evangelist named Mordecai Hamm was invited to speak. While the campaign wasn't considered as successful as the first one, a young, lanky farm boy walked down the aisle on one of the final night. We know him as Billy Graham.
In 1959 Billy Graham came to Brisbane Australia to preach at a crusade and a young farmer with little formal education came forward and accepted Christ. His name was Clark Taylor and in 1974 Clark Taylor founded Christian Outreach Centre.
Today there approximately 1000 COC’s worldwide of which our church, Elevation, is one of.
Dwight went on to be one of the greatest preachers of modern history seeing millons attend his meetings and hundreds of thousands come to Christ.
When Moody was out preaching one day, a man named Frederick Meyer was listening. Meyer was already a Christian, but Moody's preaching motivated him to enter full-time ministry. We know him as F.B. Meyer. Kimball reached Moody, and Moody reached Meyer, but the story doesn't end there.When Meyer was preaching, a young man named Wilbur Chapman responded and gave his life to Christ. Chapman felt called to be an evangelist. One of the young men he took under his wing was a former professional baseball player who, also wanted to preach the gospel and did so with great success.
His name was Billy Sunday.Sunday held a crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina, where many people came to faith. The people there were so thrilled that they wanted to have another crusade. Sunday wasn't available, so a young evangelist named Mordecai Hamm was invited to speak. While the campaign wasn't considered as successful as the first one, a young, lanky farm boy walked down the aisle on one of the final night. We know him as Billy Graham.
In 1959 Billy Graham came to Brisbane Australia to preach at a crusade and a young farmer with little formal education came forward and accepted Christ. His name was Clark Taylor and in 1974 Clark Taylor founded Christian Outreach Centre.
Today there approximately 1000 COC’s worldwide of which our church, Elevation, is one of.
Life is all about making ripples. To many people are only looking for the big splash. Make constant ripples in your pond, and eventually the algae will move elsewhere!
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