Love is for everyone!

Ephesians 2:4-5
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Are we as a church neglecting 4 out of 10 adults? According to the 2000 Census 43.3% of adults are single or are single again! Just yesterday, the world celebrated Valentines Day, a holiday that excludes 4 out of 10 people. In fact, many churches hosted a Valentine’s banquet or provided some sort of opportunity for married and engaged couples to express their devotion to one another. This is a wonderful tool to connect the couples within our churches, but what about those that are not married or engaged? Since our nation and churches are marriage focused we often forget how many people do not fit in that category. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Dennis Franck author of Reaching Single Adults and he challenged me to look up the demographics in my city, Frankfort. I knew we had a lot of singles, but I had no idea how many there were. Look at these statistics from the 2000 census regarding the adults in my mission field of Frankfort, Kentucky.
Ages 18-24 3,254 11.7% of all adults
Ages 25-44 8,399 30.3% of all adults
Ages 45-64 6,224 22.4% of all adults
Ages 18-64 17,877 64.4% of all adults

According to these numbers we have more single adults than married! Wow, I really would not have guessed this to be true. Dennis Franck caused me to realize that reaching the single individuals of our communities has to be a priority for our churches. But how do we reach the single population? Many single programs fail because they begin with the idea that “single people need to be married”. This is not only a bad assumption, but it goes against the feelings of many singles. We as Christians and church leaders need to be focused on the main goal "To seek and save the Lost." The lost meaning everyone, not a particular group, nation, race, or classification of people, but rather all people. In fulfilling the goal of the "Great Commission" we must not allow our assumptions to get in the way of God's plan. This week I encourage you to show Love not only to those in your home, but to those that live without the understanding of the Love of Christ. For Christ loved you before you loved Him and we should love others even before they have the Love of Christ.

God Bless

The Big Reveal!

Now King David was told, "The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God." So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. II Samuel 12-16

There is a continuing decline of signs and wonders being made manifest in our Nations Churches. Why? That is a question that can be answered many ways. One reason is because many churches are afraid of what comes with the signs and wonders. People get excited and when people get excited they do some exciting things! We laugh when we see people win money on television. They get all crazy and dance around screaming, shouting, jumping on people, even loosing all humility. Sometimes they even pass out due to the enormity of their excitement. We laugh at them and talk about how silly they are, but we have come to expect to see some drama. The show "Extreme Home Makeover" comes to mind when I think about people getting excited. At the "big reveal" the families never stand still and express their thanks in a very dignified way. No, we would assume they were ungrateful if they didn't get excited. We love to see them weep, laugh, pass out, dance, and shout until it becomes ridiculous. That is how we know they were deeply touched and they recognize that their quality of life has just been transformed. Well, it should be all that and more when our Heavenly Father touches our lives. When someone is delivered from oppression they ought to be excited. Joy should overcome their lives and they should do a little dance and celebrate how great God is. When someone is healed their sense of gratitude should be overwhelming! We have seen, through media, people pass out at the thought of winning a new car. Imagine the emotional rush when someone has just been touched by God Himself! If people pass out for a car they should fall flat on their backs when God shatters the chains of sin and death! When healing flows people ought to dance because health is worth more than any car.

I encourage you to be open to signs and wonders and the emotional release that follows them. People will get excited and things will happen, but let us look at it with open minds and open hearts. If we can laugh at someone on tv, then we can surely be blessed by one of our fellow Christians. Be careful to not allow yourself to be judgemental. Imagine how you would feel if your generational curse had just been broken. I think it would be cause for celebration. Next time you are in service and the Lord is moving and people are being healed, delivered, and transformed imagine that they just got their "Big Reveal!"

Invite them and they will come!

I too will have my say; I too will tell what I know for I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wine skins ready to burst Job 32:17-19

The statistic; 80% of people that join a church were invited by a personal friend, continues to be proven factual. Polls and surveys that addresses this issue continue to find results near the number 80%. To clarify; when a church adds 10 new members 8 of them were invited by a friend. That's not to say that these are all newly saved members, but I have to believe that many of them are! As Christians, we have been given a mandate to grow the church through discipleship. Every Christian has the express responsibility to evangelize within their circle of influence as well as throughout the world. Many outreach opportunities are given to church members, but the majority of church growth occurs when members personally invite their friends and family to participate in church services and special events. Let's not forget that our friends value our advice, input, and influence. That is why they are our friends. The gift of friendship is complex and hard to maintain on a high level, but at the foundation is trust. Our friends trust us to give them insight that is valuable and relevant to their life. I can't think of anything more valuable than Christ and the Church. Is it hard to invite people to church? No, I don't think it is, but we have a preconceived notion that people don't want to come to church. The fact is that people are more open to spiritual things than ever before. Take advantage of the age of spiritual openness the Mormons, Muslims, and other false religions are! The fastest growing religion in America is Islam. That's because they are passionate about adding people to their movement. Do you see Islam speakers on TV? Do you see high profile Muslim's publishing books? Do you see conferences, summits, or highly promoted gatherings to promote the Islam religion? No, we don't see any of those things. Then why are they growing at a faster rate than Christianity? Christians will spend millions of dollars on mass marketing, but the way we truly grow the church is through personal contact!!! I encourage you to invite your friends to church this Sunday. They respect you and will listen to your testimonies.

God Bless

Leadership, sometimes it’s a bummer!

"But Lord , " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." Judges 6:15 NIV

We had to cancel church today because of the weather. It always bothers me when we have to do that. I only get three chances a week to speak to the entire congregation and those three services are very important to me. Missing them under any circumstance is bothersome. I remember the first year we came to New Harvest, after we went to my sister’s wedding in Washington I didn’t miss another Sunday service for a whole year. I felt so guilty taking that Sunday off (an anniversary trip) it was hardly relaxing! Point is, that making the decision to cancel services is not an easy one. There are so many things to consider when dealing with weather like this. The question of safety is the first thing that comes to mind. Not just the safety of getting to the church, but is the church grounds safe and will it be safe going home? Not only for the congregation, but any visitors that might come. In the litigious society that we live in, we have to err on the side of caution. Not only that, but if I wrestled with the decision and then someone did get hurt – don’t even want to think about that! Point is leadership is so much more than what we see. It seems that many people are fascinated with the public side of leadership, but only a few are willing to embrace the ugly side of leadership. When everything is great the leader gets the praise (that’s what people are in love with), but when things don’t go as planned, the leader better look out. By this time you might be wondering where I am going with this one. Well here it is.

Leadership – better defined as servant hood. I remember when I submitted to the call of ministry. I didn’t ask God to make me into something great. I didn’t tell Him I wanted to be this or that or like some well-known minister. I just wept at the thought of God asking me to do something. I was humbled that He would even call me. I really didn’t know what He was asking me to do. I just knew that I had to serve Him and by serving Him I was to serve His people. That experience has given me a totally different outlook on leadership. As a pastor, you’re not always the most popular person. Sometimes, people are mad, downright angry, unhappy, or even disgusted at decisions you have to make. Decisions, mind you, that very few people want to make. That is the ugly side of leadership in a ministry role. Those that love you one week are capable of chasing you out of town the next. It’s a package deal. You can’t have all the greatness of leadership and none of the baggage. You take it all, even when there’s more ugly than good. As I grow in the ministry, I find myself mentoring and discipling others. Sometimes it is a great experience and sometimes it’s a bummer. It really depends on their view of leadership. If they are all about the good side of ministry the acknowledgement, the rush, the attention, the sense of fulfillment and not aware of the ugly side, it’s tough to work with them. You see our view of leadership has an effect on every aspect of our ministries. Leadership is not for our benefit; it is for the benefit of those we are leading. It will always be that way. God is calling many people in our church into leadership roles, but statistically not everyone will be chosen for leadership. Potential and talent don’t mean a thing to God if the heart is in the wrong place. Take a moment and reflect on what you think leadership is and compare that to servant hood. Do you think the Apostles loved their leadership roles when they were being chased and beaten? No, they weren’t, but they loved the opportunity to serve Christ and His church. It’s all about the heart, is it pointed to Christ or to self? Be sure your heart is in the right place and God will take care of the rest.

God Bless