Yesterday our DVD/VCR combo went out.  It was still under warranty at Best buy so we went to exchange it.  They took it back without any hassles and when they rang it up, it showed that we were due a gift card for 108 dollars.  We asked them if they were sure and they didn’t know how it happened.  The Customer Service Clerk looked at us and said, “I guess you get a gift from Best Buy.”  We asked one more time to make sure that it was right and he told us to to go ahead and take the gift card with the new DVD player.

In essence, we got paid to get a new DVD player.  What an unexpected blessing!

Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life is?  Do you believe that you really have a purpose?

Every person was created by God with a purpose for their life.  Many never respond to that purpose or never discover it.  Many people today live without any direction in life because they have not discovered their reason for living. 

God’s intent for every person is that they fulfill His purpose for their life.  For some it is making an impact in the secular work world.  Others are destined to be an influence on other people.  Teachers for instance have a higher calling to influence the students they teach.  However, for all of us, there is always a spiritual purpose for our being.  Psalm 20:4 says, “May He grant you according to your heart’s desire.  And fulfill all your purpose.”  God desires to help you fulfill your purpose. 

In looking at the life of Joseph we see how God took major trials in his life and turned them into fulfilling God’s purpose.  He had two dreams when he was young that revealed his purpose of being a great ruler.  This however, was not fulfilled until a series of events took place in his life.  Joseph was sold into slavery, imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit and eventually was made a ruler in Egypt.  It was only after the hardships of life, that Joseph saw his purpose fulfilled.  The road he had to travel shaped him for his destiny.  Whatever you are facing today may only be a means to get you to the fulfillment of your purpose. 

As humans we have a tendency to look at our hardships as the cruelty of life.  God, on the other hand, looks at them as a way to mold us into what He wants.  Your purpose is hidden in your hearts.  It is something that God has implanted with in you and often it is not brought out until God is ready for it to be fulfilled. 

Many have a burning desire for their purpose but have yet to see it fulfilled.  God has placed that fire in your heart for a reason.  It is to cause you to seek Him for His timing and heart concerning what He has for you.  One thing to be careful of in fulfilling your purpose is to not  get ahead of God.  When you have a passion for God’s purpose, He will bring it to pass.  You follow Him and He will open the doors for you.

If you have yet to discover your purpose, pursue God and ask Him to reveal it to you.  Your desire to know that purpose is the beginning of the process of fulfilling that purpose.  When I got saved, I knew I had a purpose but did not know what it was.  The desire to know caused me to seek the Lord for His heart for my life.  It took several months before I discovered a part of that purpose.  Looking back, I see that what God spoke to my heart was only a portion of His purpose for my life. 

God doesn’t always reveal all His purpose to us at once.  If He were to do that we would probably get ahead of Him and His timing.  God will lay out the path in front of you and will guide you all along the way. 

God has great things in store for you.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” 

God has a future for you.  Seek Him and you will find His purpose for you.  He thinks great thoughts about you.  Be of good courage God has a plan for your life.  Let Him Use You!

I hate to use this blog to brag on my kids, but after all it is my blog.

Sonya and I are blessed to have a God fearing son who loves God will all of his heart.  At the beginning of the school year God put a desire in his heart to start a Bible club at school.  The club has been going now for three weeks and it is growing.  Josh and another kid split up the speaking duties and they have vision for growth.

What made me more proud than anything was the first week only one kid showed up.  Josh still gave the devotional to just one kid.  Years ago as a preacher at a small church, we would often only have 2 on a Wednesday night.  I was tempted to not share because after all there was only two…why waste a sermon right?  Josh gave it all he had and God honored it.  The next week they had seven and yesterday they had nine.

I am proud of my son!

The other night, I was thinking about my life’s journey.  I was reminded that my preaching ministry began 18 years ago in a homeless mission in downtown Houston.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  At the Open Door Mission, on January 30, 1992, I delivered my first sermon to a group of gracious homeless guys.

I didn’t know how to preach, so I did what every preacher would.  I just started yelling real loud and called it preaching.  I received a chorus of Amen’s. At the altar call three people gave their hearts to Christ.  I was riding high!

The next week I delivered my second sermon.  I envisioned myself as the next Billy Graham or Billy Sunday.  The only difference between them and me was that they knew how to preach.  At the Star of Hope Mission in downtown Houston, I delivered my second message.  I had gone in there with this great pride that I was the man, but it didn’t go as good this time.  I blanked!  In the middle of my message, I forgot everything.  I had notes but they were a blur.  I just completely froze up.  Those homeless guys coaxed me on.  Prayed for me! Encouraged me to take my time.  I finally got my composure and finished the rest of the message. 

At the conclusion of that sermon, my grandfather gave me the greatest advice that a young man could have received.  I still cling to it today.  He said, “If you would have went up the way you came down, you would have came down the way you went up.”  I held my high on the way to the pulpit but I came down with it hanging in embarrassment and failure.  My grandfather gave me a quick lesson in humility and how we have to rely on Christ when we stand in the pulpit and preach his Holy Word.

Ministry has been a great journey.  Homeless ministry is my roots.  I did that for several years and thank God for the hundreds of salvations we saw in that time.  We moved on to inner-city ministry for a couple of years before pastoring our first church.  We are now in our 14th year of pastoring.  It has been a wonderful journey.  I have learned a lot of lessons during these years.  Had successes and made alot of mistakes, but the truth is that I am more dependant on Christ now than I have ever been.

Here is a copy of my first sermon notes.

I have been a slacker here lately.  I haven’t been writing much. Not because I have writer’s block but because I have been extremely busy.  It has been an exciting time for us as we prepare for some awesome things coming up.  We are finishing up our rebuild series this Sunday.  It is the grand finale and we will be unveiling something exciting this weekend.  You do not want to miss it.  I will give you a slight hint: Project Rebuild.  That is all I am going to say.

February 14th is another great day.  No, we are not going to talk about valentine’s or love, but we are going to give away boxes of Godiva chocolate and a dozen roses to every one in attendance, then we will give a $100 gift card to Ruth Chris to everyone who wears red with hearts.  It is going to be incredible.  By the way, I am just kidding!  Now that I got your hopes up, we will be unveiling our vision for the future on Valentine’s.  It will be better than chocolate (is that possible?).  Nonetheless, you do not want to miss these next two Sundays.

Exciting times at RFA!  The momentum is building.

It has been a week with much hype about the incoming storm.  They say it will be the worst storm in a decade, but not as bad as last year.  Just a side note: how can it be the worst storm in a decade when it won’t be as bad as last year?  Was last year actually the worst storm in the decade?  I need to be a weatherman…I can make profound statements like they do:)

Sorry, I got off track.  All week we have been building up to the “storm”.  We have been told what to expect.  We have been informed about what the storm might mean to Northwest Arkansas.  The weather team has been building expectancy.  Expecting something big.

I believe that expectancy is a good thing.  It helps you prepare for what is to come.  It helps you think, plan and act.  Expectancy is vital to the kingdom of God.  Do we expect God to do something?  Are we expectantly waiting for Him to move?

My heart is filled with expectancy for this new year.  I have never been as excited about a new year as I have this one.  Something in my Spirit leaps when I think of what God is going to do. 

Expectancy should drive all of us.  We should come to church, expecting.  We should pray, expecting. We should read the Word, expecting.  Expecting God to show up in a real way in our lives and in our church.

It is like the expectancy of a woman who is pregnant.  A few years ago, when Sonya was pregnant with Hannah.  We were expecting.  We knew something great was about to happen, but we didn’t know what Hannah would look like or what she would be like.  There were a lot of answers that we didn’t have, but we expected something good.

That is how I feel about RFA.  I don’t know everything that God is going to do, but I am expecting something good.  I don’t have all the answers but I know that God has something up His sleeve.  I am expecting!

Someone once said, “Attempt Great Things For God, Expect Great Things From God.’”

Todd Rhoades posted this picture with the caption, “Which of these PKs will require a special board meeting this month?” 

Book: Dug Down Deep

Author: Joshua Harris

Summary:
What will you build your life on?

With startling transparency, Joshua Harris shares how we can rediscover the relevance and power of Christian truth. This is book shows a young man who rose quickly to success in the Christian evangelical world before he realized his spirituality lacked a foundation—it rested more on tradition and morality than on an informed knowledge of God.

For the indifferent or spiritually numb, Harris’s humorous and engaging reflections on Christian beliefs show that orthodoxy isn’t just for scholars—it is for anyone who longs to know the living Jesus Christ. As Harris writes, "I’ve come to learn that theology matters. It matters not because we want to impress people, but because what we know about God shapes the way we think and live. Theology matters because if we get it wrong then our whole life will be wrong."

Whether you are just exploring Christianity or you are a veteran believer finding yourself overly familiar and cold-hearted, Dug Down Deep will help you rediscover the timeless truths of Scripture. As Harris challenges you to root your faith and feelings about God in the person, work, and words of Jesus, he answers questions such as:

What is God like and how does he speak to me?What difference does it make that Jesus was both human and divine?How does Jesus’s death on the cross pay for my sins?Who is the Holy Spirit and how does he work in my life?

With grace and wisdom, Harris will inspire you to revel in the truth that has captured his own mind and heart. He will ask you to dig deep into a faith so solid you can build your life on it. He will point you to something to believe in again.

Author Bio:
Joshua Harris is senior pastor of Covenant Life in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which belongs to the Sovereign Grace network of local churches. A passionate speaker with a gift for making theological truth easy to understand, Joshua is perhaps best known for his runaway bestseller, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which he wrote at the age of twenty-one. His later books include Boy Meets Girl, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is), and Stop Dating the Church. The founder of the NEXT conferences for young adults, Joshua is committed to seeing the gospel transferred to a new generation of Christians. He and his wife, Shannon, have three children.

You can pick up a copy here.