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.

Today's Sermon - How to Have a Servant's Heart

This morning I preached on 1 Peter 2:13-25 on "How to Have a Servant's Heart." This was part of my current series on BECOMING A 5C Christian. Last week I looked at Courage, and this week was focused on being Committed to service. As I look at the 5C's I think the concept of committment is the one that is often the most challenging. I stated today that there were four steps to learning how to have a Servant's Heart. 1. Remermber that your service Pleases God. 2. Realize that through service you become more like God. 3. Know that God is the one that will give you rewards for your service. 4. Know that service is what gives your life purpose. As a Church, I hope that we are committed to serving Christ because of all that He has done for us.

Olympics turn the most courageous into the most fearful!

Fear stops Olympic Bobsledders! CNN just posted an article about the Netherland bobsled team. You can read the article at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/25/olympics.bobsled.driver.quits/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Last week I talked about becoming a courageous Christian. This article reminds me that there are many things that cause us fear.

Question: What are you the most afraid of?

Things that cause me the most fear...

1. Dying without telling my family that I love them.

2. Not winning my friend to Christ.

3. Not fulfilling my calling in God.

4. Failing to enjoy the defining moments of life.

5. Falling into Sins and letting those sins control me.

My Defining Moments in Ministry

I recently wrote an article for www.lifeway.com that explains my five defining moments of ministry. This article will give you a little insight to who I am. Enjoy. "For those of us that have been in ministry for awhile, it can seem that one Sunday runs into the next and that every Sunday becomes like the Sunday before it. However, as I look back over the landscape of ministry I find that there are some defining moments that have shaped me as a Christian leader. For the rest of the article go to: http://www.lifeway.com/article/170102/

The Most Courageous Man I Know

I just finishing preaching out of 1 Peter 1:3-9 about Having a Courageous Faith. I ended the sermon with this video clip from "The Passion of Christ." I think this is one of the most moving clips in this movie. It leaves no doubt that Jesus is the most courageous man I know.

5C Christian - Learning to have a Courageous Faith

New Sermon Series: Becoming a 5C Christian! Tomorrow we are going to be starting a new sermon series in 1 Peter called "Becoming a 5C Christian." Tomorrow we will be looking at 1 Peter 1:3-9 and talking about the "How to have a Courageous Faith." I am excited about this series because I think these 5 areas will be very enlightening because it is areas that we very seldom talk about as it pertains to our Christian life. A 5C Christian is one: 1. That has a Courageous Faith 2. That knows how to live a life on Contentment 3. That is Committed to Serving Christ. 4. That Confesses so they can live an Authentic Life. 5. That lives in Communion with God. You Can find more at our website at: www.therestorationpoint.com