I felt a real burden for this ministry today and just need to be transparent.
When I was praying today I noticed an old feeling coming on me that I had when I was a youth pastor. I was a youth pastor at a church for a number of years. The youth was a small group and I love pastoring small groups of people, regardless of age. It is just much more personal and you can see real growth, step by step. But after studying and studying and studying and studying new youth material, almost every week I would often decide "I will do this or that so that we can get bigger." Get bigger for a while was my purpose. I really just wanted us to grow. Nothing wrong with that. It was the right end, but the wrong motive. Let me say this again because it applies to every ministry, ever. Growing your numbers is the right end because that means that you are a healthy congregation. Growth is a sign of life, it is a physical and spiritual principle but you don't get there with growth as a motive.
Luke 12:25 "Which one of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?"
Can we grow by being focused on growth???? Not properly. Numerical growth is a by-product of spiritual growth. Read Acts. When did the church grow? After the disciples grew spiritually.
Back to my point. My calling was not to grow the youth group and it took me 7 years to figure that out. Constantly God would tell me "be faithful in small things". In the last year I figured it out. My battle cry could not be growth, it had to be, and should have always been, "One at a time.". Does that mean I couldn't preach to 100 at a time, no, certainly not. However, my mandate, my anointing for this time was "one at a time." Its curious because once I submitted to that principle God called me from that ministry and into Hidden Bars.
I said all of that to say this, God checked my battle cry today. With newsletters and emails and ambassadors, all great things that God has given me, my focused shifted. I began to set steps up for growth when my focus, for this ministry, must be "one at a time".
Today I had a feeling in my spirit to pray for this ministry so I did so in my prayer language because I did not know how to pray for it. After about 30 seconds of that I heard "Its one at a time. Touch them one at a time."
Everything in this ministry is, and must continue to be focused on one at a time.....because really isn't that what God is all about anyway?
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
09-18-11 God focused choices.....
Have you ever had one of those moments when you are ministering to a group, or just someone one on one, and you start saying things so good that you wish someone would have brought a video camera? I am not so vain as to think that its me speaking in that moment, but it feels awesome to be able to say what God wants to say. To speak life into a life, healing to a hurt, guidance to the lost. I am so honored.
I had prepared this message Saturday and most of what I was teaching on was covered Sunday morning in our church service, I love it when this happens. I have been ministering since 2000 and have seen this principle many times. What God has given you to say He is saying in many ways and many places at the same time. It is also wonderful confirmation of what He is doing. The message at our church was handling conflict properly inside of a marriage. The principles taught tied in very well to 'Making Godly Choices".
Men and women in a corrections facility can hear sermon after sermon of the benefits of making Godly choices. How it will change their lives. That making Godly choices sets things right in your life, improves life, etc. But where ministers miss it, myself included, is that the message of how to make Godly choices is neglected. This has to be unpacked. Men and women want to make Godly choices, so teach them how.
I opened with prayer. 15 new faces. Very uncomfortable in there for the first few minutes of worship. Usually men just sit there with heads bowed and eyes closed while I play 2 worship songs. This time during worship I just knew that the Holy Spirit was fighting for the attention of these men. They, most of them, were like statues. Stoic, with arms folded. not acknowledging the words in the music during the first song. I prayed and during the second song I felt the room start to loosen up. Thank God, or this would have been very hard. Usually I pray for an hour in the spirit before I begin to minister because the Holy Spirit knows what needs to happen in this meeting, not me. So I trust that my praying in the Spirit is praying the perfect will of God. I am thankful that I did.
I started explaining that making God focused choices is really just that. Making choices that are based on God and the values of God. Hearing God before making a choice.
Francis Chan put it best I think, for me anyway. I was listening to a teaching series, about 3 hours long, on a God centered marriage. His message was stunningly void of the usual tips for marriage. Instead he spent three hours telling you how to focus on God first, not your spouse. Then how to focus on God as a family. Almost as an aside, Chan said that all the issues and cares and problems in a marriage start to fade away when we don't focus on the family, but instead focus the family on God. This principle is really THE principle. I explained to these men not to focus on the choice. Focus on God, and the choices start choosing themselves.
Do you understand this? Life and ministry is not about making Godly choices. It's about one choice. The choice to abandon yourself and realize that the God of all creation loves you, so why wouldn't you sell all that you have and purchase this pearl of great price? To abandon all. All of your decisions and joys and troubles and temptations and just completely focus in on God and what He wants out of you?
It is so easy. If I want to be full of the Spirit and walk in the Spirit then what place is there for selfishness? For pride and arrogance? For fear? If I focus every day on God and my love for Him and His love for me then you start living the life of power and love that a series of carefully orchestrated choices could never get you. It was Christ's sermon. The pearl of great price, and the teaching of "let the dead bury the dead" which just seems rude. These parables, and many others, talk about complete abandonment. And Paul in the new testament saying crazy things like "You who are married, act as though you aren't married." WHAT! What does that even mean? It means that marriage is great, amazing, wonderful and Godly, but what time do you have to wrap up your life around your spouse? Your marriage helps you in your ministry and your walk with God. Or at least it is supposed to. When your focus is "I will be the best husband ever" that is noble. But when your focus is "I will be the best lover of God ever." Doesn't the husband part take care of itself? Because how can you be full of God and also full of pride and a disrespect for your spouse?
We talked about marriage and relationships with this principle in mind. Then we talked about fears. Simple fears like how do I take care of my legal charges, my family, and my bills. I told them that if they made decisions based on taking care of and managing those fears then those fears would run them. Those fears would dictate their lives. Luke 12:22-31. Seek first the kingdom, and the solutions to all of your fears will just present themselves. Why? Because God loves you.
When I was done I asked for hands of who would receive salvation and 6 raised their hands. But before I let them pray I explained that this prayer was a prayer of abandonment. Abandon yourself, I asked, because God never will. The whole room prayed.
4 stayed behind for prayer after 12 signed up for our newsletter. I prayed for each of them. God gave me words for each of them, and I could tell they were all touched and crying. Finally, as a finale, one man I prayed for just came alive and said "I have hope! I have never had hope before, this is the first time I have had real hope!"
Hearing that alone makes it worth it............
If you pray for this ministry remember these men's hearts. Pray for brokenness and that they would be receptive to Jesus. That their eyes would be opened....
I had prepared this message Saturday and most of what I was teaching on was covered Sunday morning in our church service, I love it when this happens. I have been ministering since 2000 and have seen this principle many times. What God has given you to say He is saying in many ways and many places at the same time. It is also wonderful confirmation of what He is doing. The message at our church was handling conflict properly inside of a marriage. The principles taught tied in very well to 'Making Godly Choices".
Men and women in a corrections facility can hear sermon after sermon of the benefits of making Godly choices. How it will change their lives. That making Godly choices sets things right in your life, improves life, etc. But where ministers miss it, myself included, is that the message of how to make Godly choices is neglected. This has to be unpacked. Men and women want to make Godly choices, so teach them how.
I opened with prayer. 15 new faces. Very uncomfortable in there for the first few minutes of worship. Usually men just sit there with heads bowed and eyes closed while I play 2 worship songs. This time during worship I just knew that the Holy Spirit was fighting for the attention of these men. They, most of them, were like statues. Stoic, with arms folded. not acknowledging the words in the music during the first song. I prayed and during the second song I felt the room start to loosen up. Thank God, or this would have been very hard. Usually I pray for an hour in the spirit before I begin to minister because the Holy Spirit knows what needs to happen in this meeting, not me. So I trust that my praying in the Spirit is praying the perfect will of God. I am thankful that I did.
I started explaining that making God focused choices is really just that. Making choices that are based on God and the values of God. Hearing God before making a choice.
Francis Chan put it best I think, for me anyway. I was listening to a teaching series, about 3 hours long, on a God centered marriage. His message was stunningly void of the usual tips for marriage. Instead he spent three hours telling you how to focus on God first, not your spouse. Then how to focus on God as a family. Almost as an aside, Chan said that all the issues and cares and problems in a marriage start to fade away when we don't focus on the family, but instead focus the family on God. This principle is really THE principle. I explained to these men not to focus on the choice. Focus on God, and the choices start choosing themselves.
Do you understand this? Life and ministry is not about making Godly choices. It's about one choice. The choice to abandon yourself and realize that the God of all creation loves you, so why wouldn't you sell all that you have and purchase this pearl of great price? To abandon all. All of your decisions and joys and troubles and temptations and just completely focus in on God and what He wants out of you?
It is so easy. If I want to be full of the Spirit and walk in the Spirit then what place is there for selfishness? For pride and arrogance? For fear? If I focus every day on God and my love for Him and His love for me then you start living the life of power and love that a series of carefully orchestrated choices could never get you. It was Christ's sermon. The pearl of great price, and the teaching of "let the dead bury the dead" which just seems rude. These parables, and many others, talk about complete abandonment. And Paul in the new testament saying crazy things like "You who are married, act as though you aren't married." WHAT! What does that even mean? It means that marriage is great, amazing, wonderful and Godly, but what time do you have to wrap up your life around your spouse? Your marriage helps you in your ministry and your walk with God. Or at least it is supposed to. When your focus is "I will be the best husband ever" that is noble. But when your focus is "I will be the best lover of God ever." Doesn't the husband part take care of itself? Because how can you be full of God and also full of pride and a disrespect for your spouse?
We talked about marriage and relationships with this principle in mind. Then we talked about fears. Simple fears like how do I take care of my legal charges, my family, and my bills. I told them that if they made decisions based on taking care of and managing those fears then those fears would run them. Those fears would dictate their lives. Luke 12:22-31. Seek first the kingdom, and the solutions to all of your fears will just present themselves. Why? Because God loves you.
When I was done I asked for hands of who would receive salvation and 6 raised their hands. But before I let them pray I explained that this prayer was a prayer of abandonment. Abandon yourself, I asked, because God never will. The whole room prayed.
4 stayed behind for prayer after 12 signed up for our newsletter. I prayed for each of them. God gave me words for each of them, and I could tell they were all touched and crying. Finally, as a finale, one man I prayed for just came alive and said "I have hope! I have never had hope before, this is the first time I have had real hope!"
Hearing that alone makes it worth it............
If you pray for this ministry remember these men's hearts. Pray for brokenness and that they would be receptive to Jesus. That their eyes would be opened....
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