In my morning devotional today reading from my new Transformation Study Bible I was lead to the story of Abraham in Genesis, specifically Gen 18:2 and Gen 22. In this story we read about this man who trusted God so much he left everything he knew, the place of comfort where he had security, success, servants and wealth to go out into the wildnerness not knowing where he would be going “because God said so”. He was three days from “some place” but I’m saying he was three days from no where in particular.

In Gen 18:2 Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw three men at his tent door. One of them was God, and he fed Him a meal. At that point, God starting giving promises. He said (Gen 22:17) “As the sand…upon the sea shore,” so shall your seed be.  That made me think that in our lives there are promises God has made to us, that is the first level.

But then the scripture says again in Gen 22:4, “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.” Now it’s gone beyond the first level of receiving the promise. This is the level when you begin to step into the destiny that God has for you. 

Then there’s the next level that you get to, though, and that’s in Gen 22:13 “Abraham lifted up his eyes…and behold behind him a ram…” You only get that level of blessing when you go through a “three days from nowhere” experience. When you go through such a severe trial of a lifetime, it feels like everything is gone, you were lost, you have missed God, you somehow have messed up and feel there is no way you can make it back.

The truth is, God has to bring all of us whom He has a destiny for to a place called “three days from nowhere.” It’s the place where you’re saying, “I know where I am going but I sure don’t understand where I am right now. I don’t have a clue what is going on. This is not what You showed me, Lord!” Scripture says that God proved and showed Himself to be Jehovah-Jireh at that place (Gen 22:14). Abraham did not call Him Jehovah-Jireh when he got to the mountain and saw the provision. He called Him Jehovah-Jireh down at the foot of the mountain when his boy asked him, “Father, where’s the lamb? And Abraham answered “God will provide himself a lamb” (Gen 22:7-8).

Anybody can call Him Jehovah-Jireh when you get on top of the problem, but when you’re three days from nowhere and you don’t know where to turn, you don’t know what to do, you don’t know why you’ve had this x-ray come back the way it did, and your husband left you for another woman, or that boss who never did right by you still gets promoted and you don’t even get a cost of living raise…that’s when you’re “three days from nowhere.”

You don’t know why you paid your tithes and now you’re laid off, it makes no sense. Sister, you are three days from nowhere. You didn’t think you would be here at this stage, and this point in your life you never dreamed that you would be a widow, or starting a new life with a new man, or here by yourself. But I’ve got to tell you in this  Mentoring Moment that you don’t wait until you get on the mountain to call Him Jehovah-Jireh. Abraham called Him Jehovah-Jireh when he was still three days from nowhere!

If you are three days from nowhere, God’s letting you know that He’s with you. You may not know where you’re going, but you know who’s going with you. And if He’s with you, no matter what you are going through you know you will get through it!

I am confident of this because I myself have been three days from nowhere more times than I can count. I know you’re confused, you’re stunned, maybe even feel a little hurt by God. Let me share something I learned back when I had the two hardest trials of my life. The biggest room in your brain had better be reserved for things you don’t understand. If you have to understand everything before you will trust and serve God with everything you got, then sis, you don’t understand the concept of faith. God doesn’t always give us explanations.

You are probably three days from nowhere but hold on sis, God will come through for you as he did for Abraham. Just keep proclaiming Him as Jehovah-Jireh and soon you too will see the ram amidst the bushes.

With love and appreciation for all you do for the Kingdom.

This morning as I sat down to my computer and opened my email I saw this picture sent to me by a friend. When I saw it aside from feeling compassion for any child that has to listen to negative words from the people he/she values most, the holy spirit prompted me with the very direct scripture Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” At that point, my mind wandered to think about how words have impacted me in my life. Thankfully, although I came from a single parent home, my mother never belittled nor spoke negative words over me. She wasn’t overly giving in positive words either but at least I always felt she believed I could do more and do better.

But I want to focus this post on the responsibility we each have with the words we use and how we choose to deliver them to a person. As a Christian leader (or those who see themselves as one or ever aspire to be one), we should always and I mean 24/7 be mindful of this. I rather someone walk away and tell me I can’t talk right now because I  am upset then to let their emotions have their way and rip into someone, whether it is justified or not! You see, you can’t ever take back words. Even if there is an apology, your words reveal what you really think as Matthew 12:34 states “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…” Some people (unfortunately rampant in Christian circles) believe that it is easy to forgive and forget. It’s not like you get a lobotomy for goodness sake! You may never forget but the sting will eventually wear off. The thing is for us Christians forgiveness is a requirement!  This book is particularly good at spelling that out for us but also delineates why unforgiveness causes sickness in our bodies. But why should we continually take ourselves to a place where we have to be asking for forgiveness especially as it’s related to our word usage and delivery?

As a pastor, we get our share of hurtful words, gossip, etc.  I think I was in a period of bliss for 3 1/2 years because while there may have been a little of this and a little of that, there was nothing majorly hurtful from one person to me…that is until last week. I could go into a tizzy of facts on how that person was off in every biblical way possible, I can state how that person was seeing things purely from their own selfish standpoint but really does it matter. I had my moment of crying. I had my time of sharing with God “why do I do this again?” But at the end of the day, the lesson there was “see how my children hurt each other with words” amongst of course many others including forgiveness. 

God deals with us in our thought life, our word life and our action life and obviously we fail epically in every area almost daily. But the one I think we give very little thought to is our words. Your “word life” with others will make or break you in your own personal relationships with other people in this life. If you do not learn how to speak to other people in a positive and godly manner, then sooner or later no one will want to have anything to do with you, and you will eventually find yourself being totally isolated and alone. 

Another point I want to address with this is our parenting. Parents you bring your kids to life with the words you speak over them. If all a child ever hears from his parents as they are growing up are stern and abusive words of condemnation, criticism, and negativity – then that child’s self-esteem and self-worth can be severely affected if it is not properly counter-balanced by other people in his life who will speak out the right kinds of words of love and encouragement to him.

If a child does not get properly watered with words of love and encouragement from his own flesh-and-blood parents during his early growing years in the family, then sooner or later he will end up believing in all of the lies of his parents as a result of their constant bombardments – and he will then end up growing up thinking that he will never be good enough to amount to anything worthwhile.

There are many grown adults who never end up accomplishing everything that God would’ve had in store for them in this life as result of not being able to pull out of all the negativity and pessimism that their parents had heaped on them during their earlier growing years in the family. And all of their possible growth in the Lord in this lifetime ends up getting stunted as a result of the “death” that was brought upon them by the negative and abusive words spoken to them by their own natural parents.

This is why the Lord is telling us in this verse that some kind of death can literally be brought about as a result of speaking out the wrong kinds of words to someone – especially words spoken between parents and their own children. Here are some verses to keep in mind and learn from:

· “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” (Proverbs 12:18)

·  “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:13)

·  “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, and from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.” (Proverbs 18:20)

·  “The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.” (Isaiah 50:4)

·  “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Colossians 4:5)

·  “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.” (Proverbs 10:11)

·  “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.” (Proverbs 18:4)

·  “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4)

·  “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24)

·  “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” (Proverbs 12:25)

·  “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” (Proverbs 15:1)

·  “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.” (Proverbs 13:3)

·  “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.” (Proverbs 21:23)

·  “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.” (Proverbs 15:28)

·  “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

 I want to use my words and actions for good, to lift people up, to encourage and empower and I do my best to stay away from people who do the opposite.  Use your words wisely people and like the old adage states, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything.” Or as we learned at a recent women’s retreat, “shut up”!

Yesterday in my church, we began a new leadership development program for all people who want to be developed to lead through the DREAM* of our church. They are called LIDs…Leaders in Development. Our first class was great. Not because I was teaching it but because most if not all of the people who showed up were hungry for what God would have them do next in their life as they progress towards destiny fulfillment.

One of their assignments for class is to begin a blog. Two have already been posted here and here and well, I’m so pleased with the summaries. But most of all, I’m so thrilled with the way they are rolling up their sleeves already and how they are willing to invest in themselves to “do this thing right”. Our program is once a month for five months so it’s a time investment and that doesn’t include the time involved in shadowing a ministry, doing a ministry project, reading two books and doing a presentation to the class. My husband knowing me as good as any other human in this life can sent me a text today that said: 

( 8/29 at 11:31 AM)”I just read the blog (speaking of Alba’s blog)…you must be grinning from ear to ear and very proud of what’s developing in the LIDS group…” my answer…very proud…these are going to be my diamonds”

I feel like a proud momma but this is why I say that. In Psalm 16:3 we read: “As for the saints of the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.”

David didn’t just forgive God’s people; he didn’t just tolerate the saints; he delighted in them. How can we do the same? I think the key is seeing them the way God sees them: Diamonds in the rough.

In Exodus 28:17 God commanded Moses to make an ephod with four rows of three precious stones each. The stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel and the priest was to remember that this was how God felt about His people by wearing this ephod over his heart whenever he came into God’s presence. Four rows – three in each row – ruby, topaz, emerald; turquoise, sapphire, diamond; jacinth, agate, amethyst; beryl, onyx, jasper – the saints are God’s jewels.

A frequent accusation against believers and argument against the truth of Christianity is hypocrisy. When an unbeliever sees a so-called Christian fall short of their expectation, they say out loud or think to themselves: “I thought you were supposed to be a Christian! Hypocrite!”

But the authentic Christian doesn’t claim to be only a diamond, but a diamond in the rough. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels”, says the apostle Paul, “so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2Cor. 4:7) We have a sin nature, we have a struggle going on inside of us, but we also have a new nature and are part of a new creation.

Our responsibility toward one another is to look past the rough and start seeing and speaking to the diamond or as our Lead Pastor would say, the greatness within us. Christians often focus on the wrong thing and get paralyzed by sin and shame – their own, and that of their brothers and sisters.

But seriously, can we look past the rough? Peter exhorts us: “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins.” (1Peter 4:8) Don’t you want others to love you like that? We can’t excuse sin (and I am certainly not advocating for that) but after confession, we dare not dwell on it, or we will miss what God is seeing.

And I see these new LIDs in our midst at STN as answered prayer because we certainly prayed them in. God knows where He has set the vision up in the heart of our Lead Pastor and his wife, my job is to help him get there by training “healthy leaders” who will take STN to the nations…who will work locally and globally for the sake of the cause. I see greatness…I see diamonds and I’m honoured, grateful and humbled to have a small part in polishing them for the glory of God!

Here are some new article ideas I have on my list and have been working on. Let me know if you please which ones you think are interesting and would consider reading.

What is Spiritual Growth?

Is Pastoring Forever?

Free to Live for Who?

Stop the Madness

The New Buzz in Church Planting and Why It’s so Off

Leadership Misfits

Radical Spirituality or Radically Busy

Compartmentalized Christianity

Last Days Leadership

How Far Do We Go? (Obedience is Better than Sacrifice…Really?)

Bored in Church-What Does It Say About You & Does It Matter.

The beauty of team ministry and why some people just don’t get it

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The Church in the West today presents too easy a target for Satan. We do not believe we are at war. We do not know where the battleground is located, and, in spite of our weapons, they are neither loaded nor aimed at the right target. We are unaware of how vulnerable we are. We are better fitted for a parade that for an amphibious landing. Ed Silvoso

Next month (August 27-28) I am hosting a Warring Women Weekend through my organization the Center for Emerging Female Leadership. The reason I feel God lead me to host this weekend is that we are losing ground in this invisible war we are in. Some people have forgotten that we are in one!The event is for women of all ages and in various levels of kingdom assignments. This event to me is probably one of the most important events I have ever put together. Obviously the reason is simple: the enemy of my soul YOUR soul does not want you to “get it” he doesn’t want you to get that you have a choice to make about not just whether you will serve him but how you will serve him! I am mad right now. Not mad at you but mad at the enemy because he is just having way too much fun destroying men and women of God!

Leaders, especially beware. Don’t think you ever “got this!” I was reading through I & II Samuel last week and two thoughts hit me HARD enough that I got out of my hiatus in writing to blog about it, and it is this:#1 – The Enemy Will Always Come After The Leader! God hit me in the face with this truth in I Samuel 31:1-3 (where the enemy came after Saul) and II Samuel 5:11 (where the enemy came after David.)  In both instances the enemy came hard after the leader because they knew…take out the leader and you can stop the movement!Here is a truth about every leader you know in church world…we are all under an intense amount of spiritual attack.  And…the larger the ministry grows the larger the target on his or her back!

I’ve had leaders talk to me about this in the past as if they were surprised!  The false mentality that seems to exist is that the higher we climb on the leadership ladder the less temptation we will face. Uh no! NOTHING could be further from the truth. How many men and women of God do we know who have succumbed to the great liar!

David was at the top of his game when the enemy came after him and took him down with an affair. Elijah had just accomplished one of the greatest victories he had ever seen in his life–then Jezebel sent word that SHE was coming after him (and he freaked out…many times as leaders we lose perspective when under attack!) 

In my church we just started a new sermon series called “The Heat Is On” and I told the church, the heat is going to go hotter. The intensity of this war is going to get heavier. I am not saying this to scare anyone–heck…it’s a fact of life. There was a chant I would sing with my sorority sisters in college and it used to go like this “It’s hot in here, It’s hot in here, it must be the Delta’s in the atmosphere” Well, I need to paraphrase that for our purposes right now and “it’s hot in here, it’s hot in here—it must be Satan in the atmosphere!”

Yeah, It’s on folks! War big time. Are you complacent?  So I was just reflecting on all this and asked myself how do we guard ourselves?I will tell you in a minute, but I wanted to get this out into the blogosphere not because I have many readers but because it is stirring up in my spirit. I am just like you, yes I am a leader, some would say I am well-regarded, others well LOL; yes I am a pastor and yes I have been serving the Lord for many years but and I want to clearly state this, I too get attacked and sometimes the heat is ridiculously on! Some of the things that pop into my head are crazy! Seems to me the devil works overtime with people who can help scatter other sheep away from the great shepherd. So I try real hard to not just walk away but “run” away from situations like Joseph did with Potifar’s wife!

So getting back to what we can do, here are some suggestions:

a – Consistent time with the Lord!  Find out what brings you close to Jesus and DO IT A LOT!

b – Memorizing Scripture – if Jesus defeated Satan three times by quoting Scripture then we should learn to do that as well! Do you think you’re better, cooler than Jesus? Huh, really?

c – Intense accountability – not some lame meeting with a group of guys/girls where you share popcorn and talk about what you are learning…but rather an invitation for people to “get in your face” and call you out when they see something unhealthy and destructive. I have a group of 3 women I love and we have journeyed together for about 10 years. Truth is we haven’t met much like we used to because one is still in NYC, the other two and I while living in the same State have very different schedules. But I miss the “in your face” meetings we would have. I have cried with them, yelled at them (in a nice kinda way) and vice versa but we grew and we grew a lot! I need to get that happening again and ASAP, those ladies helped me look at the ME I didn’t want to be and the ME I was becoming. What an awesome group to have. I encourage you to get one going. But you have to be committed to being called out as well as calling someone out. If not, don’t waste your time!

d – Becoming a FREAK about personal integrity – no one knows your thoughts, feeling and struggles but you…and YOU are the only person who can establish correct boundaries for your personal integrity.  If you don’t make integrity a priority then it will fall by the wayside as important…which makes you ONE stupid decision away from losing what it may have taken YEARS to build. As the old saying goes “It takes years to build a good reputation and only a second to lose it” so please don’t be a knucklehead and guard yourself!The enemy IS coming after us…which should not cause us to fear but rather to FOCUS more on Jesus… WE WIN because JESUS wins…HE IS IN US!!!  Isaiah 54:17!!! And remember what the enemy shows us is never real, it is always an optical illusion. So don’t fall for it folks. It is NOT what it looks like. We got to learn to take our authority and kick satan right in the cojones!

#2 – The Enemy Will Always Come After The Leaders Family

Once again, take a look at I Samuel 31:1-3…and notice that the enemy first killed Saul’s sons before they got to him!

DANG! Why they gotta mess with our families!

Church leader…here is a fact…the enemy IS coming after your marriage! He did it to me exactly this month (July) ten years ago! My 20 year marriage is a miracle. I could have ended up being only a 10 year marriage.  The enemy has a plan, do you have one? His plan is for you to:

• Take your marriage for granted
• God will lift you up higher if you keep ignoring your marriage.
• Have high expectations of them but they better not have any expectations of you
• Be a Jesus freak at church but God forbid you mention Jesus at home.
• Take most of your time investing in this grand ministry of yours but not give any time to investing a god’s vision for your marriage.

AND…trust me…he WILL come after your spouse! What better way to break your heart than to have the person who has your heart break it for him. And if that doesn’t work he will go after his/her health and go down the line from there. Your spouse is a target…and that is why we must LOVE THEM and LEAD THEM through this minefield!  If we think our spouse is immune to this we are idiots!  When we are married the two become one…period!

Question…what steps are you taking to SHOW your spouse that they are important to you…and you will do whatever it takes to love and protect them.  (Date nights, back rubs with NO strings attached, conversations about what they are reading in Scripture, etc.) I’m sorry but this is a hot button for me not just because I have experienced it but because as a pastor I see so much dysfunction in marriages and its in the homes of people who profess God is a God who can do anything. But why aren’t we letting him? Why aren’t we doing our parts to work our marriages and not give the devil a foothold?

AND…church leaders…the enemy is coming after your kids…UNFORTUNATELY many pastors kids become “wild as hell” because they spend all of there time looking after every kid in the church except his own. My NUMBER ONE discipleship responsibility are my kids!  Yet the enemy will tempt me with…

• You’re tired…you can play with them tomorrow.
• Vacation time is coming, you can spend time with them there.

Every mom and dad  MUST take their children seriously…the enemy does!!! But Pastors and Leaders even more so… He IS coming after them…and so we must raise them to love Jesus and walk in victory…and then they can grow up and kick satan in the cojones…just like we did!!!

So you see, it’s a war folks and dang we need to get with it already. This is a conflict that won’t end until the Lord returns for His peeps. I pray God gives you the wisdom and grace to handle that dirty devil every day of your life. You can’t do this alone. AndI’m just sayin…cause I care!

“Don’t rush me, the hurrier I go the behinder I get” –a sign at a workstation

As a few of you have noticed (because I have rec’d your emails about me not blogging in a while), I haven’t had time to sit down and post a decent thought in months. Not because of lack of thinking (I do too much of that), not because of lack of opinion (I also have a boat full of opinions on a myriad of things) but simply because of time.  I am chock full busy. 

Why so busy? Well, I have a family…wife for 20 years, mother of two boys. I home-school my oldest son. I am an Executive Pastor at a three-year old church plant trying to organize, structure the church, motivate leaders, keep myself grounded spiritually. I am the chief visionary for the women’s organization I founded in 1996 www.celf.org and I work with a team of CEFL women to publish Soar Magazine.  Finally, I am a consultant for nonprofit organizations in organizational development and fundraising. I also promised myself and my mentor (Dr. Shirley Arnold) that by March 2011 my book would be done. BUT because I love what I do, there are many days that it doesn’t feel like “work” and on most days, I don’t sigh.

HOWEVER, in the book “Leaders Who Last” author, David Kraft quoted a Sunday newspaper that stated “we have lost the rhythm between action and rest. There is a universal refrain: I am so busy (oops I just said that in above paragraphs didn’t I?) As it all piles endlessly upon itself, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into one enormous obligation. Sabbath time is a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork. Many of us, in our desperate drive to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, feel terrible guilt when we take time to rest.”

David believes as he states in his book (p. 69) that leaders are travelling too fast and attempting to do too much. He writes “if priorities PROTECT my purpose and passion, then PACING prolongs it. That’s the thought in Psalm 139:3 ‘You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment, you know where I am.” (TLB)

He goes on to say that “if the Lord were an officer of the law, he would give many of us a speeding ticket.” And he asks the question “is there a speed limit for life and ministry?”

Good question huh? The funny thing is that as I pondered this question and chewed on it for a few days I got an email inviting me to speak at a women’s conference with the purpose of helping women in ministry in any capacity the opportunity to guess what….”Relax, refresh, rejuvenate” and for a few days release the “to-do list”  as well as do something else we don’t take enough time to do “relate with other women who are in the same boat as we are BUSY with kingdom work.  What do you think I said? YES of course!

The conference info is here http://www.thereconference.com/ and its called the RE:Conference. Yes, God’s powerful paradoxical prefix RE. Another funny thing about all this is that this weekend (April 24-25) I head out to my college reunion and will meet up with sorority sisters where I am actually doing a ceremony on out of all things…the Power of Re! Seems like RE is big right now.

I will be there sharing on Friday afternoon on Marriage plus Ministry and I invite all my CEFL sisters locally in South Florida to definitely make it out but I know my sisters in other states could use a little time to RE and guess what? It’s not too late to REgister either? Conference cost Before May 1: $165
and Regular Registration: After May 1st: $175. The venue is the awesome Doral Resort and Spa www.doralresort.com.

I believe it in this type of a conference so much, CEFL is actually one of their partners and we’ll have a table there. So I would love a great showing of CEFL women to come out and not only support a conference that is all about helping you take the time to smell the roses but so that you individually get the rest and relaxation you need to keep doing what God has called you to do. I know I want to do better in 2010. Better health is wealth and it begins by you taking a little time to be still and know that He is God…He WILL still be God when you take a break. Trust me on that one!

This June stop the rush rush and RE. See you there!

Our generation needs a reformation.
But a single person won’t lead it.
A single event won’t define it.
Our reformation will be a movement of reformers living creatively, compassionately, courageously for the cause of Christ.
 
This reformation will not be born of a new discovery.  It will be the rediscovery of something old, something ancient. 
 
Something primal.
 
—Mark Batterson, Primal

Have you ever read a book that just makes you stop? Stop the madness of church activity, leading, planning, etc. The book I’ve been reading the last few days named Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity by Mark Batterson made me do just that. That alone is an accomplishment because not many books have that effect on me. I need books that either wow me or slap me because of the reality of what I need to be thinking/acting/doing. This book kind of did both to me. For that I give Mark a high five!

What makes this even more interesting to me was that I was featured with Mark in Rev. Magazine a few years ago as pastors who “blog” when we both kind of started out in pastoring. Since then I’ve always tracked him to see what he is up to and obviously Mark has “blown up” so to speak and has gone on to be a noted figure in the faith-based world especially in church planting. Bottomline, I was honored to be in his company even if it was only in print media!

I have also read one of his other books “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” so I was happy to read that he was working on Primal and after reading it I have to say I like this guy even more, I would love to meet him one day!

Now to get to the book…

1. I liked the title of the book and made me pause because I do feel that something has been lost in Christianity. Some people think it is the “spiritiual gifts”, others believe its the way “we do church” but Mark suggests in his book that its the fact that Christians have lost their way and have lost their first love. I love the way he put what our primal problem is “It goes without saying that Christianity has a perception problem. At the heart of the problem is the simple fact that Christians are more known for what we’re against that what we’re for.”

2. I liked the way it flows. Reading Primal is like having Mark over for coffee and he’s just sharing his heart and his travel adventures and how they related to his spiritual walk.

3.  It’s just the right amount of pages. With only 167 pages you could read it in a week.  Faster if you have uninterrupted time on your hands.

4. Format of book: The book is divided into four parts: 1) The Heart of Christianity; 2) The Soul of Christianity; 3) The Mind of Christianity; 4) The Strength of Christianity.

5. My reaction to some key highlights of the book:When I began reading the book I was afraid I was not going to like it. Mark takes us back to early Christianity and the catacombs (I never was a big history buff) but he then reminds us that there was a time where serving and worshipping God was not so complicated, I mean when we knuckleheaded Christians didn’t complicate things so much. Mark reminds us that for God its really as simple as this one commandment: Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.Mark shares (on pg 7) how 20-somethings who grew up in the church are leaving the church and how our first thought would probably be “what is wrong with this generation?” but he goes on to say that that is the wrong question, the right question is “what’s wrong with the church?” And his answer? “We’re not great at the Great Commandment. In too many instances, we’re not even good at it.” Ouch! [First slap to Liz]

• One of the key themes throughout the book was  Re.

Mark challenges us that the quest for the lost soul of Christianity involves us1.      Rediscovering “what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength”2.      Returning “to the primal place where God loved you and you loved God”3.      Reacting right because “it’s much easier to ‘act’ like a Christian than it is to ‘react’ like one” [Second slap to Liz]

In the first part of the book, there is a chapter called “Tribe of the Transplanted” a reference to the new heart “we are supposed” to get one made of flesh versus stone when we come to KNOW God, Mark reminds us that one act of compassion can change history…not just our history, world history. He retells the story of Joseph and how his simple act of compassion while in prison got him noticed by a cupbearer who NOW knew Joseph could interpret dreams and that simple relational link connected him to the Pharaoh later on and the rest is well…history. So this part of the book challenges us to keep in mind that every little thing we do yes, whatever we view as little could have major impact to someone but that someone could know someone who knows someone that could be the anchor to YOUR destiny fulfillment.

I could go on and on about the fantastic illustrations Mark used in his book to bring a message home for us. My personal favorites were his 93 year old friend who made God his “senior partner” (p. 33) making a reference to how when we make God the first priority he blesses our efforts, the island of the colorblind (p.58) making a tie between colorblind people who live on an island with amazing color filled life and the travesty that they could not enjoy it while living there and how that could be us Christians how we can take everything we have available to us for granted or even worse, that we could be just as blind to the wonder and miracles around us all the time. [slap, slap]

I think Primal is a great book to get even before the year is up so you can reflect on how your new year is going to be different and it’s a must read to begin in 2010. Everyone needs to read this book but I especially encourage  leaders/pastors to read it because if we are honest-we are the first ones to be about Kingdom business and forget the awe of the King.  We need to go back. We need to re-mind ourselves of that PRIMAL encounter with the King of King and Lord of Lords.

This book provided for review by Random House. Buy it here. 

Believe it or not, I still don’t feel like I’ve achieved a lot in life. Don’t get me wrong I am grateful for what I have done, what I have and what my life looks like right now but as I look back I realize many times in my life I had to tune ‘em out.  Not feeling like I have ‘arrived’ keeps me from getting comfortable. Not feeling like I’ve reached the pinnacle of my life keeps me focused on the many  dreams still inside me and able to tune ‘em out.

Right now I have a few dreams still left in me and since I am still breathing I guess God wants me around. However just like Joseph had his brothers trying to kill him and his dreams, we have a lot of people in our lives whether they are close or close enough that want to be dream killers as well.

These people can be found everywhere. At your job, at school, in your dance class, at the gym, in your family and in your church. It reminds me of a story I read about Martin Luther King Jr. once that stated that when he was at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA one of his “speech” professors marked up one of his speeches with a note, it said “Martin, if you continue to use such lofty words and flamboyant language, you will never be very effective in public speaking.” Ha! I wonder where that professor was when MLK Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech. Martin had learned a lesson from all the naysayers in his life, he learned to tune ‘em out.

There are people right now you need to tune out. Now don’t get me wrong. Not every dream is a God dream. It could be a good dream but not a God dream. And not every dream is achievable because you are doing absolutely NOTHING to change your circumstances. You are still doing the same thing (s) day after day, you are still failing your classes, you have been in “school” for like 10 years and still don’t even have that AA to show for your time there, you still carry that muffin top everywhere you go (this is for me J) yet somehow you expect things to be “different” and your dream to come to pass.

Honey, it don’t work that way. You have to put sweat equity into ANY dream. Things will not fall on your lap. But rest assured as soon as you make up your mind to work hard on any dream there “they” come, the ones who say you will never be able to do it, the ones who say they care about you and even love you but won’t even help you make it in your new business by becoming a customer and trying out whatever it is that you are offering. They exist everywhere and yes they even come with a God bless you tag line. Tune ‘em out!

I don’t care if you have been trying to lose weight for years now (again talking to myself), I don’t care if you thought you could never ever go back to school and get that degree, I don’t care if you tell me that no one in your family has EVER amounted to much, tomorrow can be a new day, you don’t have to listen to the biggest enemy of our souls and dream stealer Satan and you most certainly don’t have to listen to other people who are in just as big of a mess as you are. Why is it that we so quickly accept the negative and listen to the advice of people who have never achieved anything in life, yet never look to someone who has made it despite great obstacles and pain. Whether they have the material wealth to show for it or the spiritual health to show for their journey in success, wouldn’t you rather hear the advice of people who have gone before you and made it. I’m tellin’ you, all those naysayers and dream killers around you need to be tuned out!

And don’t go feeling sorry for anyone you’ve tuned out either. Don’t go getting all Christianese on me saying that a “good Christian” doesn’t tune people out. You have to tune people out if you expect to make it as a Christian, as a good wife or husband, as a good businessman/woman, anything. I don’t know who this is for, maybe its just for me since as a pastor I often have to tune ‘em out so I don’t get discouraged on the journey. The ‘em will stay nameless to protect the very guilty J. Sister, brother, go after your dreams-if you are still breathing…there is still time. Try again tomorrow and when those ill-speaking, dream killing, busy bodies enter your dream/faith zone, politely excuse yourself and tune ‘em out.

I came across this prayer guide as I was looking for resources for our prayer team. I think everyone could utilize this.

Got problems in your church, then pray, have a great pastor? Then pray more…

Do you desire to fire your pastor? Perhaps you should fire them up instead! Do you want to leave your church? Perhaps you should be the one to build it up! 

The best way to build your church and fire up your pastor is to be involved and pray for them constantly and continually! If you really what to put your faith where it is needed the most, commit yourself to support your Church and Pastoral Staff, and realize that God loves us all, and we are still in His Hands. Pastors and church leaders face many opportunities and challenges each day. They balance the stresses of ministry while they are researching and writing the sermons, managing the affairs of the church, going to countless meetings and counseling others significant problems. They wear many hats as the pastor, priest, counselor, preacher, teacher, manager, organizer, visionary, administrator and janitor all rolled into one with little to no free time. As well as dealing with the stresses of modern life with their family all under personal attack and usually doing life with a lower salary and an ungrateful congregation who expects them to be perfect. They need your help, they need your prayers! When we commit ourselves to pray for our pastors and church leaders, we will have no need to bicker, gossip, slander, withdraw, place blame, or seek to usurp our will as God’s (Rom. 8:28, 8:33-34, 37-39). For our confidence in the fact Christ is our Sovereign Shepherd and He is in complete control of our church and staff, we are in His Hands and all will work out. Our pastors and leaders are here to serve, but they need our prayers and support to make this work! When we pray and come together tighter, we will have no need to fear or stress or remain in our hurts. We can come together triumphantly as a caring, loving community powerfully for His glory impacting our community (Isa. 6:1-12; Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Pet. 3:12)!  Praying for your church is like filling a balloon with helium, the more it is filled, the more it will soar and not sore! For us to grow not just numerically, but in what is much more important, spiritually and in community to one another, requires our discipline and passion to pursue Christ more and ourselves less. We have to grow in Christ in a cherished, intimate growing relationship with Him as LORD over all and LORD over us. We are called to become purpose driven with His purpose at our helm of leadership and lives so that our trust and intimacy is rooted in Him and not in our personal ideas or distractions (1 Chron. 16:11; John 3:30;Eph. 6:16; Col. 2:6-8).  

Use this prayer guide to pray daily for your church. Take one point each day of every month, and as you grow more in your discipline of prayer, double up by taking two or more.  First, praise God and thank Him for His blessings and goodness in all He has bestowed, even if you do not feel or see them. Remember your walk with Christ is all about Him working in and through us so your faith and love flourishes!  

Day 1.    Pray that we realize that our inheritance and hope as a church family is in God’s incomparable and incredible great power which is available to us (Gal. 1:12; Eph. 1:18-19; Phil. 3:10).  Day 2.    Pray that our Church, Leadership and Pastoral Staff becomes more surrendered and poured out to Christ, so they can have spiritual breakthroughs by seeking the fear of God and the mind of Christ and the Spirit’s leading (1 Cor. 2:16; Gal. 2:20-21).  

Day 3.    Pray that your Church and Pastor have and continue to take hold a growing, consistent walk with Christ with a devotional life and prayer that is steadfast. Pray that they realize and allow Christ to work and use them as they grow closer in their faith, spiritual formation, maturity and love (Psalm 16:8-11; 73:28; Rom. 8:31; 2 Pet. 1:5-7).   Day 4.    Pray that all of the leadership exhibit good Christian character and integrity with all of their relationships and dealings in life (Micah 6:8).  

Day 5.    Pray that your Church leaders and Pastors families will be cared for and respected and receive good consideration, so they can to grow too, as they are usually misunderstood, under-appreciated, and ignored or overworked. Pray that all the staff be committed to their families with authentic love and care, that they will be strong and learn in the midst of trials, their homes a refuge and haven of rest and not be condescending or withdrawing from their own families (Psalm 91:9-15; Phil. 4:19; 1 Peter 2:23).   Day 6.    Pray for discernment in exposing any plans of the enemy against our Church or attacking our pastors and staff. Ask Christ to protect us as we wage spiritual warfare against the enemy on behalf of our Church (Eph. 6:11-12, 16; Col. 2:6-8; 1 Pet. 3:12). 

Day 7.     Pray for an increase of vitality, renewal and vision that is from God for the pastors and leaders personally and collectively so that the church can be galvanized then take a hold of, and then be revitalized as a caring committed community for His Kingdom and purpose (Isa. 61:3; Rom. 12). Day 8.    Pray for the willingness and ability to authentically confess and repent of any wrong doing, false dependencies, misplaced ideas and loss of spiritual passion (Luke 13:1-3; Acts 2:38-39; Rev. 2:5-6).  

Day 9.    Pray that you and your church commits to follow the biblical mandate to support and encourage the leadership of the church (Eph. 4:11-13; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 Pet. 5:1-2).  Day 10.  Pray against gossip, negative criticism, false expectations, unhealthy burdens, strife and weariness that will seek to invade our church family (Psalm 91:5-6, 11; Luke 10:19; Eph. 4: 17, 32-5:1).  

Day 11.  Pray that your church be a community of grace and forgiveness. That your church has an atmosphere of encouragement by being grateful for Christ’s work in them that enables the congregation to be inspired to give genuine hospitality to all who comes though your doors (Rom. 15:4-6; 2 Thess. 2:16-17).  Day 12.  Pray that your church commits to a healthy understanding, wisdom and accounting and handling of its stewardship and Finances to better receive God’s blessings (Prov. 3:9-10; 1 Cor. 9:15-18).  

Day 13.  Pray that your Church and Pastor will have the strength and endurance that they need to serve with excellence by the power of the Spirit and the support of the congregation (Philippians 4:13). Day 14.  Pray for healing, forgiveness and reconciliation for any misplaced expectations, criticism, ungrateful attitudes, flawed thinking, grief, hurts, and abuse (Isa. 61:3; Mark 11:22-24, 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 4:32-5:1; Phil. 4:19). 

Day 15.  Pray that your church would receive God’s direction and vision. That the congregation gets nourished from the substance of His Word and the needs of the congregation are met (Psalm 119:9-12; Matt. 18:20).  Day 16.  Pray that our church becomes real authentic disciples of Christ who are learning, growing and making Fruit and in turn making more disciples (Prov. 19:23; Mal. 3:11; Matt. 28:18-20; John. 15:16; Gal. 5:22-23) 

Day 17.  Pray that the spirit and practice of Humility is utilized and practiced in and outside of your church, and that false humility does not take root (1 Pet. 5:5-7).  Day 18.  Pray that pride does not set in with our Leadership and Pastoral Staff (Psalm 10:4; Prov. 8:13).  

Day 19.  Pray that our church commits to place our focus on the Supremacy of Christ and be dependant upon Him (Gal. 6:14; Col. 1: 15-17)!  Day 20.  Pray that our Church and Pastor give real biblical help and Counseling from God’s wisdom and Word to those in need (Isaiah 61:3).  

Day 21.  Pray that our church family will give Christ real authentic adoration, praise, impassioned worship and glory in private and collectively as a Church. That worship is never to be a show, entertainment or talent focused, rather God is the audience to our praise (Gal. 6:14).  Day 22.  Pray that our Church and Pastor take accountability seriously and each be protected and have people they are accountable too. Also, that each would cultivate and pursue healthy relationships (Gal. 6: 1-10; Eph. 5:21).  

Day 23.  Pray that the Word of God will never be compromised, cheapened or dumped down; rather be delivered in confidence with power, conviction, clarity, boldness, with love and in truth (Acts 6:4; Col. 1:28; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; 2 Tim. 2:15).  Day 24.  Pray for discernment to seek God’s leading and direction for the leaders and pastoral staff, that they seek His ways and not trends, traditions, personal agendas or anything that is not from the Spirit and Word. Pray that they can discern and prioritize what is important and precious and what is not (Isa. 6; 2 Cor. 11:14; 2 Tim. 3:5; 1 John. 4:1; Rev. 4). 

Day 25.  Pray that God protects our Church, Leadership and Pastoral Staff from sin and misdirection and they have the wiliness and boldness to flee and confront sin (Prov. 19:23; 1 Pet. 1:16). Day 26.  Pray we all draw near to Christ and seek holiness and His presence with more prayer (Acts 1:14; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jas. 4:7-8). 

Day 27.  Pray that we as a church family remain faithful and good stewards, so the financial needs are met (Psalm. 91:15-16; Phil. 4:19). Day 28.  Pray that negative thinking, stress, being overwhelmed, the ways of the world, the tyranny of the urgent, being overcommitted, over busyness, fatigue, compromise, pressures, overworked, under-appreciated, misunderstandings, and stress to not get in our Spiritual Home and take over (John 14:1; Acts 6:2-4; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 4:17).  

Day 29.  Pray that Unity infuses your church so that your congregation is binding to Christ in love so the work of the Kingdom is promoted (2 Chron. 30:12; Psalm 133:1; Rom. 15:5). Day 30.  Pray that congregation is willing and able to come and support the church and staff with grateful hands and words. That you all realize that the pastors and leadership are necessary and called and accountable to God (Matt. 9:37; Acts 14; 1 Tim. 3:1-7, 10-15; 5:22-23).  

Day 31.  Pray that our church community commits to pray for our church, pastors, staff, missionaries, those in need, community and issues powerfully every day (Acts 1:14;16:16;1 Thess. 5:17).  It is God’s call for all of us to Pray for our Church and Pastor! Print this out and pass it to those in your congregation and watch your church grow closer to Christ!

© 1989, 2005 Dr. R.J. Krejcir Into Thy Word Ministries

Once upon a time, I believe God called me out to start a church. I never wanted to do anything like that and I never thought I would be a pastor. However, my husband and I went forth and after much prayer, guidance, advise, etc. we launched a church in South Florida. Long story short, it ended after 3 years.

The thing is it didn’t have to end. Everything pretty much was going well and to this day I miss our church. It was such a great “sanchocho” or mixture of philsophies of ministry I still don’t see anything like it and I’m a pastor again in another church plant (although it doesn’t really see itself as one) we just made three years this past Sunday (but that’s another story). We end our church plant adventure due to two things…money and leadership. Was it the right or wrong thing to do, I think it was. First let’s talk about the money part, it was a struggle to do anything we wanted to do because we just didn’t have the money. And friends, before you go and say I and my team was so “not connected to God” don’t say a word until you’ve been there. Outreach, supplies, rent, all require money. Next reason…leadership. My second son almost died on me May 2007 Mother’s Day. With all the drama of being in the hospital about two weeks with him after five resusitations, we realized we really didn’t have a great core team of people to help lead the church while we were away.  I was emotionally, physically and spiritually spent. We made the decision soon after that.

Was this difficult. Uh, yeah! Did I feel like a failure? Yes very much so for the first time in my life. (I’m an overachiever so says personality tests so this took me months to get over!) But mostly I felt that I didn’t hear God right. Think about it…I didn’t want to do anything like this ever, then I believe God is telling me to do it, I do it and then it fails. How would you feel?

Since then I am just fine. I learned not to fear failure and trust me that is liberating. You are able to go forward and risk more when you failed at least once and in my eyes NOW it really wasn’t failure (so to speak) I’ve learned how much I really love doing what I am doing. Pastoring is about empowering people to go forth and believe God for EVERYTHING in their lives. You may still think I am a failure but honestly I don’t care what you think.  Me and God are what count and I must truly say what a ride that adventure was.

I say all that to get to this point. I admire church planters. I want to help them any way I can. It takes alot to go forth and believe God for something to come from nothing. So when I read about this church at this blog and read about this woman leaving the corporate world to plant a church I prayed for her.

I am part of a three-year old church now and I truly love the people there.  I love my STN peeps. So yes I am still on a church planting team and still have the same issues that I faced when I had my own church but its much better when you have a “team” with you and people in the church who want to build something with you.

I give a high-five to all the church planters out there especially women because there are so few networks that acknowledge our role in church planting teams. But thankfully more and more are popping up.