Lead Well

What’s a “gentile”?  That’s the question that I was asked over and over the other day.  I was trying to explain that the Apostle Paul had been called to minister to all gentiles, and I thought I had explained it well enough by saying “if you are not a Jew, then you are a gentile.”  Fairly straightforward, right?  I was wrong.  One girl just kept asking what is a gentile?  I was forced to come up with another ethnic label that she was familiar with to explain what a gentile is.  I hope she got it.   This encounter reminded me of five important lessons I have learned throughout the years. Assume they don't know:   Don’t take for granted that your kids know what you are talking about.  Just because you covered it before doesn't mean they know or even remember you said it.  There are a lot of big words in the Bible, and we just assume that everyone knows what we saying.  In reality we have no idea who may be sitting in the audience or what they know.   Break it down: 

I have a confession to make: I used to hate Christmas music.  Shocking, maybe even sacrilegious, I know, but I did.  My wife would try to play the stuff before Thanksgiving and I'd shut that down faster than... well you get the idea.  Once the Christmas season started I would avoid those all Christmas music all the time radio stations like they're the plague. I started thinking about why I hate the music so much, and I came to some realizations. All my Christmas music and most of what I was listening to has been the same music since Home Alone 1.   I thought all Christmas albums were unimaginative covers of Christmas songs that were written last century.   Everything sounded the same after a while. This year, I decided to branch out, thanks mostly to Relevant Magazine , who continues to introduce me to new music.  All of sudden, I started to hear songs and remixes of songs I'd never heard before.  I started looking forward to Christmas music. So what have I do

courtesy getty images Fasting.  It's hard.  Let's face it, we know that it is something we should be doing.  We know that Jesus fasted. He did a marathon fast of 40 days and nights with no food or water! Nevertheless, I think most of us are scared. "What if I get hungry?  Will I be able to think straight? Will I be undernourished?  I have to fast for how long?  I can't eat what?" We come up with a million excuses. "I have too much to do today to fast. But I'm really hungry. I have no will power.  I can't lie to the people around me.  I don't have a place to do it.  I just don't see the need." How do I know all this?  I've said it all to myself.  It's a hard discipline, but a wise man once said, "if it's not hard, then is it worth doing?"  Or as it says in Hebrews 12:11 "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for th

Recently, I made the announcement that my wife and are moving to Montgomery, Alabama to start a full time children's ministry position.  It has been a long painstaking process and I am only finishing the leaving part.  However, I thought I would share a few words on the journey God has brought me through. During the first week in June, I felt a stirring in my heart.  I felt that God was leading me away from Clearwater to a new place.  I was so shocked by this realization that I sat on it for three days before I told my wife.  I continued to feel the quickening and decided to tell my wife, update my resume, and pray for one month.  If I was going to move my family and leave Clearwater, I needed to be sure this is what God wants me to do. After a month of prayer, I realized that this is what God wants me to do.  I notified some pastors who know me, my senior pastor, and district offices in the region.  It was slow going at first.  I had a couple of leads, but ultimately, they did

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had to deal with some pretty tough questions and attempt to be the spiritual guide in confusing and devastating times.  The first, my senior pastor died of brain cancer two weeks ago, and the second, a three year old girl was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. About 16 months ago my senior pastor was diagnosed with brain cancer and during a biopsy had a stroke which left him paralyzed on his left side for the rest of his life.  As a pastor on staff, I had to stand strong for the congregation and present a united front with the rest of the staff.  For over a year we desperately prayed for God to do a miracle, but unfortunately, God chose to heal him in the next life in heaven. Three days after his funeral, I received a text message that one of our church member's three year old granddaughter has brain cancer that cannot be taken out with surgery and most likely will not be able to receive radiation treatments because it could turn her

Recently I read an article in Relevant Magazine titled " Why Doesn't Anybody Talk about Sin Anymore? "  I was intrigued, and unexpectedly found a deep gaping whole in my Christian walk.  In Leviticus, God commands us to "Be holy because He is holy."  I know this verse; I memorized it years ago, but I forgot what it means for my life.  The article talks about how my generation is so wrapped up in God's grace that sometimes we fall into the trap of believing we can get away with anything because His grace is sufficient.  However there is so much more to following Christ than just leaning on his grace.  When we become saved, we receive and begin what is called sanctification, which is a fancy word for becoming more like Christ.  I say we receive and begin because sanctification has two facets.  The first is instantaneous sanctification or justification and the other is just sanctification.  Justification is a legal term stating that we are no longer held gu

Tonight I spent a wonderful night with the guys from the extreme tour at a friend's house.  They are playing a concert at my church tomorrow from 7-9 pm and my friend is hosting them. My wife and I decided to spend the evening with them. I was utterly surprised by what they planned to do.  When I originally agreed and got the backing for them to come I just thought a couple of bands were coming out to play, but what I got was so much more.  The leaders  spent the afternoon driving through our church community and praying about their effect.  These guys consider themselves musicianaires, musicians and missionaries, and more than just playing music tomorrow night, they are here to win souls to Christ.  I planned for our Summer Kick-Off tomorrow to just be a way for families to get together and build relationships, but now I think there is a real chance for lives to be changed forever by Jesus. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in our community!  I once quoted Rob