Natl. Youth Leaders Conference – preacher vs. christian
I had the opportunity this week to attend Jeanne Mayo’s National Youth Leaders Conference in Dallas. There were over 2000 people registered for this conference. The line up of speakers and presenters was incredible. I had the priviledge of sitting and listening to such speakers as Ed Young Jr, Judah Smith, Josh McDowell, Chris Hill and the list goes on and on. Each session was filled with wisdom, insight and heart felt pleas. We had a great 2 1/2 days at this conference.
But out of everything that was shared over these past few days, one statement that sticks out in my mind was when Jeanne Mayo said, ”Many of us make much better preachers than we do Christians”. Those words have rung in my head over and over again. How many times have I given advice, counsel and yet not lived how I tell others to live. I believe that for most preachers, that has been true in some way, shape or fasion. But that’s not the ministry I want to have. That’s not the type of preacher I want to be.
I do want to be a good preacher. I want to be a preacher that can effectively deliver a word from God. So yes, I do want to be a good preacher…but I want to be a great Christian. Those words that Jeanne spoke have been an alarm to my spirit and to my heart. To those of us who have the great priviledge and responsibility of preaching God’s word, may we never become “professional pulpiteers” but may we all become genuine and authentic lovers of God and may our words and messages flow out of that intimacy with Him.
Who Is The Holy Spirit?
I recently began diving into this incredible question. In moments of prayer, study and meditation I am pondering the question “who is the Holy Spirit?” I am asking God to reveal himself even more to me and to allow me to not only know about Him but to genuinely know Him and experience Him in a greater way.
But one thing that I am having a problem with is defining who the Holy Spirit is. I mean, I know He is the third person of the God-head, I know He is God, but my mind can not really phathom that. This does not shake my faith, as a matter of fact it strengthens it. The very fact that I can not fully comprehend the nature of God shows me that He is much greater than I am and that He is far above my limited comprehension. That’s the kind of God I want to serve.
But the fact remains that I wish I could find some definition that would bring at least a little more understanding of who He is. I wonder if anyone out there has heard a definition, comparison or anything else that has given you a bit more understanding of who the Holy Spirit is.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Every Consecrated Thing Is Blessed By God!
As the new year approached, like many people, I began to seek God for His direction and guidance for my life and ministry in this new year. In my times of prayer I felt as if God was asking me to consecrate this year to Him. As I began to wrestle with this thought, this is what God revealed to me.
To consecrate something means to separate it for God’s use and for His service. In the scriptures we find many things that were consecrated, set apart for God’s use. We see how Aaron and his sons were consecrated to God. Samuel as a child had been consecrated to the Lord. Even things like bread and lampstands were consecrated. But in Leviticus 25 we see that even a year can be consecrated. It is possible to set aside an entire year to dedicate it to God’s service.
I began to think about the widow in 1 Kings who was about to cook her last piece of bread so that she and her son could eat and then die. There was a great famine in the land. Entire families were being wiped out because there was absolutely no food to be found. This widow had just a tiny bit of oil and flour left. Just enough to make a small piece of bread for her and her son. Then the prophet Elijah says to her, “Go and do as you have planned. But first, make some bread for me.” He said to her that if she would obey, that her flour and oil would not run out or run dry. If she would just obey, God would bless her even though everyone around her was suffering. This woman obeyed. She gave the little bit that she had. She “consecrated” to God, separated it for His use and for His service. When she did that, God blessed her. Her flour never ran out and the oil jar never ran dry.
Then I thought about that time that Jesus had been ministering to a crowed of about 15,000 people all day long. When the evening came the disciples came to Jesus and said that he needed to dismiss the people and let them go. They were hungry and they needed to go into the villages and towns to get some food. Jesus turned and told his disciples to feed the multitudes themselves. The came to Jesus and said that all they had were 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Then Jesus said something that was an invitation to enter into the supernatural. Jesus said, “bring it to me.” The disciples had these loaves of bread and fish for themselves. It was to be their dinner. But Jesus asked them to bring to Him the little that they had. When the disciples brought to Jesus what they have, the Bible says that Jesus lifted the bread toward heaven and blessed it. Jesus could not and did not bless that food until it had been consecrated, set apart and dedicated to him.
Then I realized what God was wanting to tell me. Every consecrated thing is blessed by God. Whatever we sincerely separate and dedicate to God for His use and for His service, God will bless it. So if we would just choose to consecrate this new year to God, this year will be blessed. God will make us productive accomplishing much more that if we were just living this year for ourselves. When we consecrate something to God, He blesses it and multiplies it and does great and powerful things with it.
This is what I desire for 2009. To dedicate my year to God like never before. To surrender my plans, dreams, ambitions and to just pursue God’s. And as I consecrate my year to Him, I believe He will bless and make my year the most productive and the most blessed year of my life. I encourage you to do likewise. Let’s see what God can do if we just choose to consecrate our year and our lives to Him.
The Stage Is Being Set!
Unless you have lived in a cave without access to the world, you are well aware that our nation is in what is being called an “economic crisis”. Very few people may be able to fully explain or even understand what all this economic crisis entails but there is no doubt that it’s effects are being felt in every state, city and community of our nation. But this week we have seen and taken notice that this crisis is no longer just affecting the United States but it has now become a “global economic crisis”.
As a matter of fact, this week finance leaders from Canada, Japan, Italy, France, Germany, Britain and the prime minister of Luxembourg all met in Washington DC to examine and address this global crisis. It has been noted in various posts and articles written in the past few days that never before have we seen what we are seeing right now. This reach of the economic meltdown is wide and widening even more daily. But in these talks and meetings this week, something was said that realy got my attention.
Yesterday, Friday, October 10, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world’s financial markets while they “rewrite the rules of international finance.” It has been noted that some are playing with the idea of closing the individual national markets and going to one global world market. This immediately begins to smell like a set up to me.
Is it possible that what we are experiencing right now with this economic situation is actually serving to set the stage for the fulfillment of prophecy and for the rise of the anti-Christ? It is clear in scripture that there will be a global economic system during the tribulation period. Are we living in a moment where all the preparations for that to happen are occurring? I believe we are. I believe that we are living in a moment in history that was spoken about and prophesied about thousands of years ago.
Open your eyes. See what is before us. The stage is being set. The characters are arriving on the scene. It’s not time to fear, but it is time to prepare. It is time make sure that you are in right standing with God. It is time to examine our hearts and lives and to fix what needs to be fixed. Christ is about to return for His bride. I can almost see the Lord as he listens to the Father say, “Get Ready. Get Set.” And I can imagine that He is anxiously awaiting that final command of “GO!”
