Church planting is to sexy.

Over the past few months of my life I have been fighting the coolness of Church planting. I am very sick of seeing churches plant and start a church and it looks, smells and acts cool. Mean while people right outside its door are going to hell. Planting a church to me is not about starting a sunday morning look how cool we are service. It is about the Gospel effecting a community with a gospel community. This film has touched my heart today and I pray it will yours as well.

Get over it.

So this post will be very short but as we all know by now Bin Laden is dead and gone and burning in Hell with no virgins. The thing that makes me mad this morning is that I am seeing pastors bashing people because we as proud Americans are rejoicing because of his death. This is so stupid.

People be happy that this murder is dead.

Just make sure that your pride is not causing your self to slip. There is good pride and bad pride and today I am PROUD to being an American.

What a great week.

So the last few days I have been at the Gospel Coalition in Chicago and let me tell you it was a great week hearing and seeing some very godly men preach and teach God's holy word. I have been thinking about how I could share everything and even some of my thoughts about this week with you and I really think that it would take me forever and you would most likely get very bored. So what I have done is below are some links to some blogger that I follow that have done some reflections and even posted notes up on there blogs. Also I have shared below a few links for the videos and/or audio of the sermons and talks. Recommendations would be to listen to Tim Kellers sermon (two words its amazing) and Mbewe sermons.

Mbewe: Jeremiah 23:1-8

Timothy Keller: Exodus 14

The rest of the media

Blogging Theologically: He has great sermon notes from every speaker.

So I hope that you enjoy these links. I was very blessed by what God spoke about through these men of God. May you be blessed jus as much. If I find more

Blame God.

A few years ago when I was a teenager I had a bumper sticker that said Blame Canada. As you may think this sticker got me in trouble many times with people from Canada. Even though I thought it was funny I ended up taking it off my 1989 white van ( I was pimping).

I feel that at times we use the thought of Blame God when bad things happen to us. When a family member dies or a major earth quake happens we blame God. But yet when good things happen then we take all the credit for it right? This is all so wrong it is not even funny. Why do bad things like someone getting cancer or losing there job or a husband or wife running out on there family happen? It is because of sin and not God. We have to take the heat for it. When God made us we were made perfectly in the image of Him. Adam and Eve took and ate the fruit and at that very moment sin entered in the world and us. Bad things happen because sin entered the world.

This means that we should not be blaming God for the bad things but take some of the blame ourselves and lay it at the cross of Christ. Today I spent a long time in prayer and meditation on who God is and I started to cry uncontrollably because of how great God is. I do not blame Him for anything. But instead I thank Him that even though I am sinner He brought me into His family to live a life for his kingdom. To me that is a humbling thought.

A Mom's pride.

I am sitting here in my office reading Matthew 20:17-21 and can not believe what I am seeing. Jesus is talking about Him being betrayed and crucified and that He will return in three days from the dead and the first thoughts of the mother of Zebedee's son's was OK Jesus that is fine and all but make sure my sons sit with you in heaven.

Sometimes in our lives we can become so full of pride that there is no way to see our own sin. We are all ,sadly, full of pride and self but if you truly come to the cross and want to be humbled by it your pride will start to melt away. It takes years for it all to fall away but by the grace of God He helps us every step of the way.

The other sad thing is that as I read this story I can see my self in her shoes. Here Jesus is painting the bigger picture and all she sees is her own little world. We as called to be people that are kingdom focused and not self focused. So may we all pray for this to happen in our own lives as well as for those around.

Keep your facebook post to your self.

Over the past year I have seen how facebook is good and also how it is bad. Let me first put out there the good of facebook.

1) Facebook is good to reconnect with old friends

2) Facebook is good to spread the gospel.

3) Facebook is good to know what other people are thinking about things.

4) Facebook is good to post funny videos.

Now let me share with you why Facebook is bad.

1) Facebook is bad because you can reconnect with old "flings"

2) Facebook is bad because there is ,at times, to much openness.

3) Facebook is bad because you can share to much about what is on your mind.

4) Facebook is bad because it can hurt people.

I want to hit on this last part for a little bit. Facebook is bad because it can hurt people. Over the past year our so I have seen and heard how people in churches us Facebook to hurt people. They use it to slander people and because of that I have seen churches ripped apart. When it comes to posting thing on Facebook you really should keep in mind the thought of "if you can not say anything nice do not say anything at all". Now as I write this I know that I have ,at times, not followed this. However God has been doing a lot of work in me the last few months and this is one thing that I have watched at times.

So what are you using Facebook for? Are you using it for one of the good or is your reason on the bad list?

Don't Use E-mail to Correct Others

This is so true. At my last church there was a lot of slander and rumors going around and it was all done through email. When it comes to dealing with major issues do not use email. Be very careful in your words and what you say. If you think that it will go bad for you in an email then don't send it. Give that person a call or even as James Macdonald says just breathe before writing an email and have a right heart.

Prince Of Peace.

The last few days I have been thinking a lot about one of Jesus' names The Prince of Peace. In the days that we live in I know that it is hard for people to truly see this. We have war all around us, people are loosing there homes and jobs and at times it may seem like there is no peace in the world. Let me tell you about a family that knows the prince of peace.

This past Sunday I was talking to a guy at Mosaic and I have found that they do not know if his wife will be around the next day. She has so many viruses and some of them the doctors have no clue what they are. This guy has not be able to work for about 11 years now but he leads his family and he is at church every Sunday and his wife is out greeting people and I could tell just by talking with him that they love the Lord.

You may think that your life is going nuts and your world is spinning out of control but before you go crying and throwing in the towel you may want to look around. Jesus Christ is the Prince of all Peace and if you will take time to speak with him he will show you that. He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. We are not perfect but I thank God that we do not need to be to know the King of All Peace.

Be blessed this Christmas.

Young and Dumb.

As a young pastor I am always trying to stay humble and open to things that I need to work on. Last night I got an email from a older man that carried enough about me and my ministry that he sent me this email just to say hey I am seeing and heard this just wanted to give you a heads up. When I called and talked to him he was wanting to make sure that he did not tick me off by sending it. I told him that I would be stupid to be mad about the stuff that he brought up to me. Him and I talked and after I sat back and thought a lot about some of it and I am grateful that he did this.

Why am I telling you this? As a young pastor or even just a young man we need to always have a older man to speak into our lives. I have a few guys that I have given full rights to knock me up the side of the head if need be. There are times that they do and I am so grateful for it. I feel that I am a better man today because of this. We will never learn if we can not take a few gut shots from time to time to learn.

If you do not have someone to speak into your life or even beat you up from time to time let me be the first to tell you go right now and pray that God would give you one or two. This will help you become a better man.

War on Christmas? What a Joke

So I know even now as I write this that I am going to make people made but I want to let you know some of my thoughts on this "war on Christmas".

First Jesus Christ is the main purpose for Christ but people it is not the only holiday that is being celebrated. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and many others. For us to say that this time of year is only about us (The birth of Christ) is I think kind of prideful. Jesus Christ was not born in December it was around the fall.

Now do not get me wrong here. I am not saying ," Let's coexist then". All I am saying is that can we stop this WAR ON CHRISTMAS crap and stop being prideful about Christmas and telling other people that they can not celebrate what they want to. Paul tells us to be all things to all people. So instead of yelling at people if they do not wish you a merry Christmas instead share Christ in your actions and words and be humble and ready to be used by God to reach out to the lost.

The Weight we carry .

Over the past two years I have been able to feel the full weight of what a pastor carries on a regular basis. We are called to carry this weight but we are called to rely on Christ on a daily basis. Praise God that he is our strength.

STOP

When was then last time you stopped and gave a great God praise. Right now take a few minutes and thank God for being such a wonderful God.

Don't be like Men.

Tonight I will be preaching on be imitators of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1 esv) and as I sit in my office and read I picked up Calvin's sermon on this text and wow it hit me. Check this out.

"The world is also of its own accord, inclined to a misdirection imitation and after the manner of apes, strive to copy whatever they see done by persons of great influence.We see,however, how many evils have been introduced into the Church by this absurd desire of imitating all the actions of the saints, without exception. Let us, therefore,maintain so much the more carefully this doctrine of Paul that we are to follow men, provided they take Christ as their grand model, that the examples of the saints may not tend to lead us away from Christ, but rather to direct us to Him."

John Calvin

What more needs to be said. There are to many people in the world trying to be other people and pastors trying to be like famous pastors. I will tell you what I heard John Piper say one time " I am a weak man and no one should want to be like me but strive to be like the one I strive to be Christ"

The Past

So today I was watching the news and I heard a clip from President Bush from his upcoming interview with Oprah. The clip really spoke to me. Oprah kept asking him to talk about Sarah Palin or Obama and he said that he is not going to wade in the swamp water. He is going to stay out of it.

As some pastors and/or church members leave a church it can be easy to bash there past church. But I really think that we need to not wade into the swamp water. We are called to pray for those people and that God's will will be done and by us bashing the church it helps no one. So next time you are tempted as you will be to just put a toe in the water stop and think about what you are about to do.

Amazing Video and thoughts

The machine gun preacher

Sam Childers will be at Grace Community Baptist Church in Trenton Tomorrow night Wed 29th at 7:00pm. This will be a not to miss night. Hope to see you there.

Respect For Leadership

So I was talking with a friend today and we started to chat about the church in China and what God is doing there. One of the things that we talked about was how they have great respect for there leaders in the church. Here in the west I am starting to see that the respect level is so low that it is hard to see. Over the past few months I have seen and heard things that clearly says that there is no respect at all.

In Proverbs 6: 16-19 there are six things that God hates and one is an abomination to him. I have heard and seen people in churches lye and bear false witness about leaders in the church. God hates murdering, haughty eyes, lying tongue but to devise wicked plans is an abomination. The church should trust the men that God places in the position as pastor/elder. So ask your self a question, if you are not in leadership at your church do you respect the man and women that God has placed there or are you wanting to lead the church your way? This is a pride issue so you may have to check your heart.

Piper on Suffering

It is not about the Pastor.

Perry Noble is all about making sure that his church knows it is not about him. Pastors or even just leaders in the church, ask yourself the question if you died would the ministry still be like it is? This is one thing that I try to keep in mind. Ministry is not about me or ,by God's grace, will never be about me. It will always be about Jesus Christ because He is the head of the church not me.

Did that really happen?

This morning at around 5:00 am I felt God calling me to get up and get something done. Over the last the few weeks I have been going through a lot as a young pastor. I have ,at times, thanked God and other times questioned God about what has gone on. This morning I stood before the church and started with my heart being placed before the church. As a young pastor I have had to do somethings today that I never thought that I would have to. For it I am thankful for God calling me and molding me the way He is. I am also very thankful for Grace Community Baptist Church and being patience with a 28 year old young pastor. I am thankful for the men in my life and most important I am thankful to my wife who has stood by me every step of the way and I could not ask for a better women to call my wife.