Today is Sonya’s 36th birthday.  It is interesting to look back and see how fast time has flown in our lives together.  We have almost been married for half of our lifetime.  What a treasure Sonya is to me.  God blessed me with her.  Happy Birthday!

Last week I went to the Tommy Barnett School of Ministry and what an incredible week it was.  When you walk onto the massive campus of a church of that magnitude you cannot help but dream that one day you might be able to accomplish something that awesome.

I witnessed first hand what God can do with surrendered people and what can be done when the foundation of the church is laid with prayer and soul-winning.  Tommy Barnett has definitely built an awesome church.

As I sat in teaching sessions and watched the services, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the hearts of those serving in Phoenix.  They are truly doing things for the glory of God.  I was struck by what Pastor Tommy prayed from the pulpit, “Lord, if we do this for our own glory strike us dead behind this pulpit.”  That is a prayer that was heartfelt.

On Tuesday night, Tommy Barnett did an illustrated message that used drama, music and video to talk about overcoming life’s hardships.  At the conclusion, over 1000 were saved and then nearly 100 were filled with the Holy Spirit.  God is at work.

As I came back to Nederland, my heart was stirred that we need to focus on winning our community to Christ.  God desires for every church to be a soul winning church.  For too long the church has become inclusive…all about us and our membership.  But God isn’t concerned as much about what we have now, He wants to bring new people to Him.  “Lord, help us to be a church built for your honor.”

More on the Tommy Barnett School, next week.

This week Hannah has been sick with the flu.  She has run a high fever and has been sleeping alot during the day but is restless at night.  Sonya has had to stay up with her quite a bit at night, so I decided to take the night shift Tuesday Night.

Now, Hannah was sleepy but I guess she was finally feeling better because she didn’t want to sleep.  She wanted to play.  We played different little games, watched Baby Einstein, played and watched Baby Einstein.  What a night! At about midnight, I was laying on the floor with Hannah and she grabbed me by the sleeve, pulled me up and wrapped her little arms around me and gave me a big hug.  She then pulled out her pacifier and planted a slobbery kiss on my mouth and hugged me one more time.  The whole night was worth it!

With Hannah, I know she loves me but kisses are rare.  They only come on her terms, not mine or anyone elses.  I believe the reason for the kiss was because I was spending time with her and giving her my undivided attention.

In a spiritual sense, God often kisses us when we give Him our undivided attention.  He loves us all the time.  We cannot make Him love us more, however, it is the kiss we long for.  His presence, His touch, His Divine hug.  The way to experience God’s expressed love is through communion with Him.  Giving Him our attention.  Spending time, just us and Him, in the closet of prayer.

Our habit as believers is to accept His love, say that we love Him but neglect the place of prayer.  The tragedy in this is, that we may know He loves us but we might miss the kiss of His love.  God is looking for an intimate relationship with everyone of us.  He wants us to experience His presence in our lives.  He wants to shower us with His Divine kiss.

In a couple of hours I fly out to Phoenix for the Tommy Barnett School of Ministry.  I am excited to be going!  It has been a dream of mine for many years and it has finally come to pass.  I am expecting a time of refreshing but also a time to be challenged to become more focused on the Great Commission.

 Tommy Barnett has been one of my heroes in ministry for years.  I look forward to gleaning from his insight and seeing how it can make a difference in my life and ministry.

For all of us, we should always be learning; always looking inside to see how we can grow.  No matter how long we have been a believer or how long we have been in ministry we can still learn.  Our lives should be a constant cycle of reflection, introspection and learning.  God intends for us to sharpen iron with iron.  There is no greater way to learn than to attach ourselves to others who are doing something for the Kingdom of God.

I know that we cannot make everything Tommy Barnett does, work for our church here in Nederland.  But we might be able to see some things that we can start or even some things we can do different.  God is not satisfied with a church that stops growing.  He is looking for fruitfulness.  His concern is not that everybody build a Phoenix First Assembly, but that all of us, in our fields of labor, are being fruitful and growing.

I heard recently, Buddy Cremeans say something that many of us overlook.  He said, “Life is short, live different.”

The old adage always said, “Life is short, have fun.”  But if life is short, we should live with the thought of making an eternal difference.  If life is short then we ought to seek ways to make our lives count.  Life is only a vapor.  It is here and will then pass away.  We must live in such a way that we handle life with the proper perspective.

Recently, an old acquaintance of ours passed away.  When she passed away at the age of 39, there were few people to grieve her death.  Sad to say, that she lived her short life in contention with others and did not leave a mark, not even on her kids.  39 years is a short life.  She could have lived different.

You and I have a decision to make in life.  Will we live for the glory of God and His eternal Kingdom or will we live for ourselves and our own selfish pursuits?  Life is short, live different!  Take risks for God.  Choose to follow Christ.  Decide to make a difference in this world we live.  Live different!

After reading the book Built To Last by Jim Collins, I saw the need of having a defined set of core values and also a defined purpose.  Over the last couple of months I have been trying to answer the question of why we exist as a church.  I believe that if we are to go forward as a church we must center our focus around this set of values and work toward making sure that each one has a priority in the life of our church. 

Here is what we exist for:

 We Exist To Imitate Christ In Our Lifestyles
( I Corinthians 11:1; II Corinthians 6:17-18, 7:1; II Peter 1:13-16)

 We Exist To Incorporate Opportunities For Prayer and Worship
(Isaiah 56:7; Acts 2:42, 47; Acts 4:24-31)

 We Exist To Initiate Relationships With Others
(Acts 2:42, 44-46; Acts 4:32; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:24-25)

 We Exist To Inspire People To Find and Fulfill Their God-given Purpose for Life
(Ephesians 4:12; Romans 12:3-8; Colossians 1:9-11)

 We Exist To Impart Biblical Truths That Stimulate Spiritual Growth
(Ephesians 4:13-14; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 5:12-14)

 We Exist To Impact Our Community With The Love of Jesus Christ
(Acts 1:8; Acts 17:6; II Corinthians 5:20)

 We Exist To Involve Others In The Mission of the Church Worldwide
(Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:14-15)

 We Exist To Introduce People to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
(Mark 16:15; Acts 8:26-40; Philemon 6)

Also here is our purpose:

This weekend we attended the South Texas District Revitalization Retreat and it was two days filled with great insight and encouragement.  Sonya and I came back refreshed and charged with a new vision for our congregation.  We learned some practical things to help us overcome the grueling task of turning a church around.  Every speaker spoke into our life and challenged us to stay the course and see God do great things here in Nederland.  I am excited about our future.  Great things are ahead!

Here are the ten commandments I mentioned Sunday in my message on relationships. I forgot where I found these but they were written by someone who has great insight into getting along with others. I hope they help.

1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.

2. Smile at people. It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, only fourteen to smile.

3. Call people by name. Music to anyone’s ears is the sound of his/her own name.

4. Be friendly and helpful.

5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is genuinely a pleasure, and if it isn’t, learn to make it so.

6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like almost everybody if you try.

7. Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism.

8. Be considerate with the feelings of others. There are usually three sides to a controversy: yours, the other fellow’s, and the right one.

9. Be alert to serve. What counts most in life is what we do for others.

10. Add to this a good sense of humor, a big dose of patience, and a dash of humility, and you will be rewarded manifold through life.