As Christ followers, we spend our whole lives wanting to talk to people about the Jesus we follow.
This last few days I have had the chance to share the gospel on TV with an audience of millions of people who were willing to listen. I was able to speak at our campus in Kona with people who were willing to listen and respond. One of the greatest things was seeing a girl named Lyra, who came to church for the first time here, pray to receive Jesus Christ and then ask if I would baptize her before I left town.
Those are the moments you live for, the moments you hope for, the moments you remember. But they’re not the only moments that matter.
What about the ones when someone hears and doesn’t respond? Or when someone blows you off? What about the moments when someone asks, and then makes fun of you? The gospel is not easy.
I wish I could say I had a better attitude after talking to a girl named Devony during an airport layover. As I talked, she basically laughed at me, made fun of Jesus and said that it was all a bunch of crap. I feel like I was able to call it like I saw it; I said that she was angry at her father, and she told me she hated him. It was obvious that I must represent the things that she hates.
I shared the gospel with her, and there was no visible response to the truth…only anger, sarcasm and unbelief. She clearly was not ready to hear the gospel, but God was asking me “Are you ready to share it, even when it’s not easy?”
I believe in my heart thatif the gospel was as easy as we want it to be, everyone would believe. It’s moments like these that matter… when our faith is confronted with the reality of desperate brokenness. I found myself mad at Devony, and now as I sit waiting for the plane, I realize again how desperately broken I am. "Sometimes" reaching out is less about us reaching others, and more about God reaching us. Such was the case for me today.
I hope someday we all (let me go first) are able to love like Jesus really loved. That when our faith is confronted – we love. When our assumptions are questioned - we love. When God’s plan for salvation is laughed at – we love. I did the best I could – next time I hope to do better.
When the day is over, to Only God be the Glory. Please pray for Devony, that God would bring someone to share the message in a way she will understand. Please pray for Lyra that having heard the message, she will now live it.
I will very soon be getting on a plane to NZ. Am desperately missing my wife (I’m radically codependent and admit it), excited to spend time with our campus in NZ, hoping to spend some time writing, for sure will spend time thinking, praying, and thanking God for every opportunity to share the gospel – even when it’s not easy.
Don’t miss Ron Heagy this weekend. I will see you next weekend.
I can't believe after 2 years of thinking and praying and being invited, it's finally time.
“God so loved the world…” are the words that God has imprinted my mind with. When I think about India, our orphanage, and remember that just 2% of the people are Christians, I’m excited that we are going to do our first international evangelistic crusade.
The word crusade means “war of the cross”. I love that. That’s what we’re doing. We’re praying for people even now before our team leaves in less than three months. It’s a war for people who right now are headed toward a Christ-less eternity.
It’s interesting, because less than 200 miles from where we are going there has been intense persecution. Recently a nun was killed, a pastor was hung, and buildings burned simply because they believe in Jesus. Where we are going is a war for souls.
Yesterday, a good friend came by the office and gave a check for $5000 for the crusade. That single donation will represent 15,000 people being able to hear the Gospel message and statistically from that one donation, between 4 and 5 thousand people will surrender their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.
We launched an initiative last weekend, “Only God Can…India” If you weren’t a part please take a can this weekend and involve your family in donating. We will let you know when to bring the cans back. If you want to, you can also donate online here.
It is time, Living Hope Church, to walk in our calling. God has given us the opportunity and I’m very excited about this new season.
Couple of quick updates:
1. Today Michelle and I are flying to California and I will be on TBN "Praise the Lord" tonight at 7pm – 9pm.
This is the second opportunity I have had to be on the show to share the Living Hope story and also to pray for people around the globe to come to Christ. Please be praying, and if you can, tune in tonight.
2. We’re doing a little different format on Saturday nights, having pizza and putting tables in the auditorium. So if you can, come to one of our two Saturday services at 5pm or 7pm, or come to one of our shorter services at 8:30 & 10am Sunday. We also have extended worship at 11.30am and 1.30pm Sunday.
3. It looks like we will make budget in August, which will help cover a little bit of the deficit from June and July. Thanks you for your faithful giving and for your heart to reach this community for Christ.
4. In two weeks on Labor Day weekend, Ron Heagy will be at Living Hope. He has a fantastic story as a quadriplegic, and he is bringing the firebird that he has been fitted to drive. www.RonHeagy.com
My prayer is that you will have a great rest of the week, and enjoy the last few days of summer.
It happens every day in every city in the life of every leader. We miss miracles. Mostly because we aren’t looking.
I am deeply convinced that in the American church, Jesus really isn’t the problem.…Christians are. Which means we are.
Let me clarify something: I have devoted my life to serving in the local church. I LOVE THE CHURCH. I love when things go great, and I am devoted when things are difficult. I think we so often miss what God wants to do because we are more about trying to convince God to get in on what we are doing. When you read the gospels, you see miracles. People were saved every day, lives were transformed, leaders were exhausted (for good reasons) and we see the impact of the early church on its culture. In fact, miracles are normal for God and ought to be for church leaders.
Acts 17 talks about early church leaders turning their cities upside down. What does that mean? They made a difference in their cities. PEOPLE (The Church) got NOTICED. PEOPLE GOT SAVED. CHURCHES WERE UNIFIED. FAITH WAS SIMPLE. MISSION WAS UNCOMPLICATED. BOTTOM LINE: A bunch of largely rejected "leaders" simply saw, and walked in, the path of what God could do. I am convinced we will never know what God "will" do until we step seriously into the waters of what God "could" do.
Albert Einstein said, "We will live our lives as if everything is a miracle or nothing is.” I would say we will live our lives, and lead our churches with a mentality of ONLY GOT or ONLY GOD.
To see a miracle happen a few things have to happen.
FIRST. I have to see that God can do it. I will never as long as I live forget when we put the Easter vision of 2007 in the hands of the church. I said “you give, and God will tell us what to do. “ They gave so much money that anything small didn’t make sense. We were learning that with God all things are possible. EVEN RENTING THE ROSE GARDEN ARENA for an Easter service in 40 days. What seemed completely crazy became a catalyzing event that our church will never ever forget. With very little advertising, and with only 40 days we risked, we prayed and we simply believed God could do the impossible. Honestly, every time I talk to leaders about it, they give me the same “you-have-to-be-kidding-me” look. Day one we decided. The next 40 days were days marked with risk, overtime, exhaustion and even a little doubt. We set up 4 pools, we rented every parking space available and on our 41st day 15,000 people showed up. We saw 700 people baptized. When the day was over we simply and very authentically said two words: “ONLY GOD.”
As a leader, if you want to see a miracle you have to see what you aren’t seeing right now. A big God should elicit big faith. YOU HAVE TO SEE WHAT NO ONE ELSE SEES AS POSSIBLE. What miracle are you missing?
The next step is the disconnect for most leaders. Be foolish in risking all that you have. Go first and go big. That is the signature of the early church. We read about it, but what will people read about us? Will we be known as followers of God who play it safe? Is paying off the mortgage the biggest thing on your calendar? Jesus risked EVERYTHING to reach the people that God has divinely trusted to your care. You are charged to reach your city and you can’t reach without risking. I live in the back yard of Nike. Their symbol the swoosh says simply “do it”. The Cross said simply “done”. Let God lead you. SEE the possibility and then go forward. You will fail when you risk, but you will fail way more if you don’t. The Rose Garden was met with tremendous cost and yet there was virtually no effect after that day Easter 2007. In fact we started a campus in Portland (3 different times) and failed pretty miserably each time. If you risk you will fail. When you fail you will learn. When you learn you will be better positioned to charge ahead again.
When I see what can happen and take necessary steps in that direction, then I have to REMEMBER ONLY GOD. The tendency is to think how good we did in the wake of a real miracle. Truth is we are compared to sheep. Without Him we simply go astray. Give the glory back to God. Remember HIM. Tell your church and your families about His goodness. Tell them about His loving kindness. Tell them about the miracles you have seen and trust them to lead even to levels beyond where today finds you.
To summarize how a miracle happens: We have to first see only God, and respond to only God, then thank and remember only God.
I am excited for NOC 2009. I believe it is one of the most needed conferences in America today. I an honored to speak at this conference and to learn from other Reach-oriented leaders. If you haven’t signed up, please prayerfully consider being part of this time. www.outreachconvention.com/ In our generation, there is a revolution waiting to happen. It is real and it is now.
This weekend we began a new series called Living Hope at the Movies. I want to give a big shout out to all the volunteers who made the set look incredible and worked countless hours. It looks amazing, and with the hundreds of bags of popcorn, it was a great start to the series.
The message was called "The Heart of a Warrior". And I wanted to help us understand how courage is developed, why conviction matters, and how character is built in the dark places like caves.
Of course my favorite movie is Braveheart. We looked at William Wallace and his defining moment in the Battle of Stirling in 1297. With faces painted blue, they were willing to walk into a battle outnumbered, outmatched, and outarmed, to fight an army that previously had not lost a single battle. Through that day in real history we get to learn about the heart of a warrior. The heart of someone courageous and willing to lose his life to fight for something he believed in.
I often times feel like we shrink back from battle, because we choose comfort over courage. When we have courage to fight, it will always cost us something.
On that day William Wallace was called and is still known today as the Guardian of Scotland.
There is another day in the life of a man called Gideon, who never asked to fight but was called by God to be something he wasn’t, but God knew he could be.
Lots of moments make up the heart of a warrior:
It’s the moment when we wake up to the right voice. The voice of God. How often do we seriously listen to the voice of the enemy? How long will we continue to allow ourselves to behave based on lies? How long? We have to learn to listen to the voice of God. Check out what God told Gideon: When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." Judges 6:12
At this point Gideon wasn’t fighting – he was in fact hiding. He was a first class Chicken Little. God didn’t call him what he was, he called him what he could be.
It's the moment we realize that it's in our weakness coupled with God’s strength that battles get won. I believe that in weakness we either run from our calling or we trust God and become dependent on only Him. Judges 6:14-16 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” 15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” 16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Gideon heard what I hope we will hear. God is with you, God is for you, and the battle has already been won.
Here’s the formula: Your availability + God’s dependability = Only God Blessability.
The question is, will you be available? You are a mighty warrior and God wants to use your one life.
The third moment in the life of a warrior is when we realize we have to look inward before we act outward. Gideon had to acknowledge who he was in order for God to show him who he had called him to be.
There is also the moment when we step onto the battlefield, and start to simply trust God. “Then the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms…” Judges 6:34
Here is what I have learned in my life personally: God will often take everything away that I have counted on to bring confidence and courage to my life. God wants my faith in Him alone, plus nothing, and perhaps no one.
In Gideon’s case, they had 30,000 people that became 10,000, that became 300. The enemy army was 135,000 strong, the odds went from 3 to 1, to 13 to 1, to 450 to 1. There is no way that Gideon could win without absolute confidence in God. The Battle belongs to the LORD.
Great weekend – looking forward to seeing Only God work as we step up and trust.
Excited for the series, it’s a great one to bring your friends to.
Love hearing about your favorite movies, keep sending them in.
Never forget – You are a mighty warrior and YAHWEH is with you!
I wanted to give a quick update after the weekend, which was the last weekend in the series.
1. ATTENDANCE. Attendance was surprisingly up (for summer) at most services and campuses. I think it tells us that talking about family, marriage, and parenting stuff is a topic we all want to learn about, and need encouragement in. Thanks campus teams!!
2. BUDGET. Our contributions were down for July. It's to be expected. In case you haven't been able to give because of summer stuff, maybe consider giving online this week. I am excited for the new financial season we are in. ONLY GOD for sure. I know pastors across the countries that are moving from annual budgets with expectations to quarterly budgets with no expectations. Here is my expectation: It is Jesus' church. He will build it! He will supply all that we need to accomplish all that He has for us. Where God guides, God always provides. For 13 years it has been what we have trusted.
3. THANKS TO VOLUNTEERS. Thanks to all the teams that make the weekends happen and to the people who work tirelessly (you know who you are) to build sets and do everything we do.
4. THE MESSAGE. Good end to the series. We talked about reconciliation. We have been given the "ministry of reconciliation" in 2 Corinthians 5. In this message we looked at what it means that we have been reconciled and what it means for us to take seriously the task or ministry to reconcile others. We looked at several things. First, we need to ask "What is my goal?" To be right or reconciled? Once we determine what your goal is, we need to ask "What direction am I moving?" Are we moving closer toward someone, or moving from them? Three things move us. Our attitude (humility), our actions (acceptance) and our atmosphere (safety). Then we asked the last question "Where does it hurt?" To reconcile means to forgive. God has forgiven us! In spite of our stupid choices.
5. NEW SERIES. LIVING HOPE AT THE MOVIES. Not sure which movie to start with..... Any ideas? I have a few I love. You will love the series; the set is being built right now. AWESOME series to invite your friends, relatives and co-workers to.
6. FAIR. We need volunteers to work the lemonade booth we have at the Clark County Fair. Contact the church or email if you can help.
7. LIVING FREE. Maybe you don't know, but we have a mid week service that is staffed with awesome leaders and teachers who want to serve you and help you become more devoted to Jesus. Lots happening there. Tuesdays 6:45 PM. Check it out.
8. CAMPUSES. Have you visited a campus? Maybe consider visiting a campus in the near future. Chances are there is a campus close to your home. We have tons of information about our campuses on our website. Great leaders and pastors who make it their job to serve you.
9. MY FAMILY. In our last several weeks of summer I hope you will pause to spend time with your family. The unscripted and unplanned moments sometimes are the most precious of all. My daughter Katie and I sat and talked for a long time today, about the Bible, about ministry and about life. She has such a pastor's heart and as she is in Multnomah Bible College (University), I am so proud of her. She is now going to be working with teenage girls at Living Hope. Anyway. Point is: Take the time, because those moments matter more than you can know. I loved my unscripted time with Katie, and am trying to be more intentional with relationships.
10. REMEMBER. It isn't what you know that matters. It is what you do with what you know that matters!! I am praying that you fall more in love with God this week than you have ever been.
