Random Thoughts...

Matthew 19:30 (NIV)-   But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Matthew 19:30 (The Message)-  This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first. In this world we understand that what goes up must come down, but the spiritual world is a kingdom of opposites. It’s a world where the last will be first, where the poor say they are rich and the weak say they are strong. It’s a world where in order to get you have to give, and to increase you must decrease. It’s a world where his strength is made perfect in our weakness. It’s a kingdom that if you want to go up you have to go down. Though you walk through the fire you will not be burned…. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death you will have no fear… In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world! And everything that goes down is destined to come up. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy’s coming in the mo...

I want to write about this value because, quite simply, because it is one of the most important values in my life, and the life of Encounter Church.  It is the hinge pin that supports all that we do in ministry.   I have to start this blog on the value of people with a story that Pastor Rick Bezet told the staff at New Life Church in Conway, AR.  He said he would think so much about reaching the "next one", looking for the "next one" that he prays for God to show him the "one" that he was speaking to in every service.  No matter what the venue, the size of the audience or the location, he is always looking for the "one" that God has brought to that service for him to speak to. We have an example in the Gospels in the form of a parable that Jesus told.  It is the story of the lost sheep.  It appears in  Luke 15:4-7 .  In the Message version it says, " Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the nin...

A few years ago I preached a series on the book of James, and I was challenged by one thought that he brings out more than most.    In  James 3:17-18 , the Message version says, “ Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results  only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.” We have our mission in ministry as “Being a Real Church taking the Real Jesus to Real People”.   This authenticity and transparency is rooted in maturity, specifically, "spiritual maturity."  That is a phrase that is very common in churches today.    Andy Stanley made it popular a few years ago and it has been the rallying cry of spiritual ...

In   John 11  there is a story about a man named Lazarus. He was a man that was a dear friend of Jesus, but one day he died. Jesus, hearing that he died, stalled. He took a few days just hanging out, knowing that his friend was dead. I have some personal issues with this text, but this is not about my need for therapy, there is a very important point buried in here that God wants you to get. Verse 15 - Jesus says “I am glad I was not there when he died, so that you can believe.”  There are some things in our lives that have died. Important things, things that meant a lot to us. Our dreams, our passions, our direction. These things have died on purpose. I need to say that again. God has ALLOWED some things to die in our lives, so that we may believe. We all have things that have died, we have buried them, walked away and stopped allowing ourselves to think what might have been. But then out of nowhere Jesus shows up and says that thing is not dead, it's just aslee...

I was sitting in Starbucks awhile back working on this blog, making contacts with people, planning the rest of my day and just enjoying what God was doing in my life. We had just launched a new small group, Success iN Life (SNL). It was designed to help people find true, Biblical success in their lives. We talked about what true success looked like. We had a white board out and people gave words to define success. We had money, security, "Mother Theresa", but my favorite was from a gentleman who said, “Success for me is Happiness.” Wow what a statement. I believe that true success is seen in that simple word that most of us find hard to find - happiness. The true test of success in life is whether or not you are truly happy where you are. The Bible says, " the joy of the Lord is our strength ". The word joy denotes happiness. I have heard many people preach that joy and happiness are two different things, I don't thank so. I think that when you are fulfilli...

Are You Sure? We ask that question a lot. We ask it about what we are going to eat, in church in reference to our salvation, when someone says they are having a baby.  When your friend tells you they want to get married to  THAT guy – are you sure?  When you tell your pastor you are leaving your church and going to that new plant across town. When you tell your husband you feel called to kid’s ministry – Are you  really sure about that?  Pretty much any and every decision in life, we ask the question “Are You Sure?” In his blog from February 7, 2011, my friend, Pastor Mark Johnston from The Journey Church in Newark, DE wrote this about this question in relationship to a growing church: “Everybody wants their church to grow.  Until it does. Suddenly not all of us are so sure anymore.  Think about it: if you’re a member of a church and it starts to grow, you’ll probably have to: Sit somewhere new. Park further away. Inte...

After nearly a quarter of a century in ministry I get asked a couple of questions more than others.  Probably the most common is, " How do I get started in full-time ministry? "  Let me attempt to answer that question by telling my story. It was 1990, I was an incoming freshman at Kent Christian College in Dover, DE.  I was excited and young, and thought I was ready to take the world.  We were all being asked the area of ministry we felt called to.  After a lot of debate, and trying not do what I felt God calling me to do, I gave some vague answer, it would take me another year or so, and a few bumps in the road, to submit to God's call on my life to be a pastor. Having then made it known that I was going to pursue full-time pastoral ministry, my pastor told me to do something that was a bit off-putting.  He handed me a vacuum cleaner and told me to vacuum the church hallway and clean the restrooms every day.  Then, as he walked away he said...