24 Hour Prayer Retreat

We just finished the 24 hour prayer retreat!

WOW - what an experience. This year the retreat was focused on the theme of JOY. This really is a highlight of my year. It always makes me feel renewed, refreshed, and restored.

One highlight for me was during our family prayer time, my daughter who is 15 prayed that one day in the future she would find a husband that was just like her dad. Wow - what a blessing and what a great time of joy.

Couple of questions that I would love for you to respond to:

1. What prayer or prayer time has given you the most joy and why?

2. How could you increase your joy from your prayer life?

Being a 5C Christian - Connection

Working on this weeks sermon - "How to Have a Connected Spirit." This sermon will come out of 1 Peter 4. I think one of the most important issues for the Christian is staying connected to God. It is so hard to stay connected in a disconnected world. I would love to hear from you. Key Question - How do you connect to God?

My feelings on yesterday sermon!

Yesterday I preached on 1 Peter 3:13-22. I was continuing on in the series Becoming a 5C Christian. Yesterday I preached on the topic of Confession. This is a topic that is close to my heart. The picture that I used is a picture that my late brother Mark painted called "The Whisper." I think the picture properly shows the concepts of talking and telling other people important facts. Peter talks the importance of telling others (confessing) 1. About why we beleive what we beleive. 2. About who Jesus is and what He has done for us. 3. About our sins so that we can receive salvation and a clean conscience. Confession is an essential part of the Christian life. We must learn how to live an authentic life and we do that from not hiding by saying one thing and then living different then what we proclaim.

A Pastor's Heart - How to Stay Connected To Your People

I wrote an article for www.lifeway.com that talks about how preachers can stay connected to their people. You can read the article at: http://www.lifeway.com/article/167206/ It is my hope and prayer that I stay connected to the people that I do life with.

My Favorite Leadership Books

I just made a post over at www.weallspeak.blogspot.com about my favorite leadership books. I would encourage you to check it out if you are looking for a good book to read. Let me know your favorite leadership books.