Year: 2014

My Ongoing 2015 Leadership Makeover

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It’s not about me What if we were less consumed with building our own platform, kingdom, status, image? what if we were more driven to serve God for his glory? What if we saw it like JTB did – “I’m Just a Voice?” So many times I overemphasize my ministry. It’s almost as if I’m seeking to build for myself a kingdom. Unfortunately, this kind of attitude holds us back from doing exceptionally great things for God. We get distracted by status, name recognition and earthly successes We fail to see the big picture and finish strong. But I’m learning that it’s not about “my ministry” “my call” “my platform.” I’m just a voice. A great leader understands that it is not about him. I don’t have it all together  What would it feel like to step off the pedestal and break down walls of invulnerability? As a pastor, I sometimes feel tempted to project a certain image of myself. . The need to sound powerful and act like an anointed charismatic preacher is real. A stroke of …

20 Admonishments Millennials Need to Embrace

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The Pew Research Center defines millennials as having personality. They are American teens and twenty-somethings who are making the passage into adulthood. And they have begun to forge their own identity. They are confident, connected, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and receptive to new ideas and ways of living. Generally, millennials are less religious than older Americans. Fewer young adults belong to any particular faith than older people do today. But for those millennials who are Christ’s followers, their religious affiliation is as strong today as among earlier generations. Unfortunately, many are beginning to see a spiritual drought creep in the camp of Christ following millennials. The culture of hooking-up and shacking up is on the rise. The culture of laziness and unemployment is on the rise. Drug abuse and alcoholism is on the rise. The life-style of fun-loving party junkies is an epidemic. Apathy is on the rise and droves of millennials who once followed Christ are leaving the church. Huston We Have a Problem! The spiritual vitality in many churches in America today is not strong enough to stop this bleeding. In many …

Be thou removed: Prayer of a man they called “Consecrated Cobbler

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When William Carey went to India, many a wise man would have said to him, “You may lust as well walk up to the Himalaya mountains, and order them to be removed and cast into the sea.” I would have said, “That is perfectly true; this Hinduism is as vast and as solid as those mountains; but we have faith-not much, yet we have faith as a grain of mustard seed”; and William Carey said, “I will go up to the mountain.” Lonely and weak he walked up towards the mountain, which in the eye of man seemed verily one of the summits of human things, far above all power to touch or shako it; and with his own feeble voice he began saying, “Be thou removed! be thou removed!” And the world looked on and laughed, a celebrated clergyman, looking down from his high place in the Edinburgh Review, was much amused with the spectacle of that poor man down in Bengal, thinking in his simple heart that he was going to disturb Hinduism; …

This Week: Let them see you in me

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With every breath I breathe I sing a simple melody But I pray they’ll hear more than a song Lyric/Prayer Take away the melodies Take away the songs I sing Take away all the lights And all the songs You let me write Does the man I am today Say the words You need to say? Let them see You in me Let them hear You when I speak Let them feel You when I sing Let them see You This is my prayer this week – that I will decrease and Christ will increase in me. That His light may shine through me. So that it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.

holy, holy, holy VS happy, happy, happy

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I have never met anyone who doesn’t dream about being happy. There is this thing inside us that long for a happy life. I don’t think happiness  is a bad thing to want. Our loving heavenly Father planned for our happiness. The very idea of “Shalom”  in the Bible – “nothing missing – nothing broken” speaks to that fact that God provides for our happiness.  However, I also think most of go about looking for happiness The wrong way. We seek to fill that God-Shape Vacuum (that only He alone can fill) with things that don’t satisfy. First Things First Most people do not know better, so they go about seeking happiness the wrong way. They go for pleasures of all kinds, but it leaves them empty and longing for more. They go for status, fame and money, but soon realize that these things just can’t deliver true happiness. They go for self-help books that only scratch the surface of how to find true happiness. Jesus said, “seek first the kingdom of God and His …

Some Days You eat the bear – Other Days the bear eats you

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A few years ago, Billy Collins wrote a masterpiece called “Some Days.” Some Days you eat the bear and other days the bear eats you is Collin’s poetic explanation of the piece. In it he asks the question: “How would you like it if you never knew from one day to the next if you were going to spend it striding around like a vivid god, your shoulders in the clouds, or sitting down there amidst the wallpaper, staring straight ahead with your little plastic face?” In essence, what he is saying is, Some Days you are at the top of your game – other days you are not. Some Days, as a writer, speaker, singer, preacher, parent, a Christian, leader, professional, athlete – you are on top of the world, but other days you are dull, uninspired, bored, creatively challenged, down, depressed – at a wall. How do you deal with this kind of emotional roller coaster? How do you manage to stay focus, and keep a sound mind when you are feeling dry, less inspired than …

Context is Everything

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Context is everything. I heard a story about a guy who had a very unique way of reading the Bible. In his effort to hear what God would say to him for that day, he would hold a closed Bible in his hands, close his eyes, than open the Bible with his eyes still shut, drop a pointing finger on the page of the bible, open his eyes, than read the verse on which his finger landed. Well, one morning, his first attempt landed him on a verse that said,”and Judas hang himself.” Feeling unsatisfied, he dove in for something else and his finger landed on another verse that said, “go do likewise.” Well you can imagine that was the last day he played Russian Roulette with the Bible. Come to think about it, most Christians I know approach the word of God Just like that. They reach in for something, than pull it right out of its context. But it’s important that we read and interpret the word of God by taking into consideration …

Patience: the Rose among many thorns

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Somebody once said that if you ask God to give you patience, “he may allow difficult situations in your life to help you cultivate it.” Unfortunately, these situations are never pleasant and none of us look forward to any one of them. But apparently, they seem like the most logical place for patience to develop. Paul understood this very well. Remember the thorn in his flesh? Speaking to this very situation he said, “In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We “patiently” endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.” 2 Corinthians 6:4, 5 NLT In the same chapter he adds the following We have been despised We have been slandered We have been called impostors We have been ignored We live close to death Our hearts ache We are poor We own nothing In such difficult times and dark situations, there is one word that stands …

6 Reasons why you should forgive people who are not sorry.

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Recently, I was speaking about the power of forgiveness at a meeting and there a young woman two or three rows from the front. I could tell that she had something on her mind. She seemed a bit anxious. Apparently, she didn’t want to interrupt or draw attention to herself. But I could sense that she was struggling very hard to ignore the urge to ask a question. Finally she gave in, and with a raised hand, she asked, “but what if they are not sorry for what they did?” I thanked her for the question and assured her that I would address the question in the next session. However, I took some time to counsel with her after the meeting because she was obviously looking for an answer to deal with a pressing need.  The following is a summary of what I told her and later shared with the group: Forgiving someone who doesn’t see the need to ask for forgiveness or show any sign that they are sorry for what they’ve done wrong is …