Fall Missions Summit 10'

This morning at Highpointe we are bringing our Fall Missions Summit to a crescendo with a 12 person Rwandan dance team and a powerful man of God, Stephen Kuert. It seriously excited!

Not only do I get to hear my favorite Missionary bring an awesome word, but I get to be reminded of the humble passion of the Rwandan people.

I cant wait!

Its great to be a part of a church that understands missions!

Prayer

Lord I pray this afternoon for all of our expats and servicemen and women that are serving around the world. As Sept. 11th is closely approaching and this Pastor in Florida is threatening to burn the Quran, may your true grace and mercy be shown to the world. Father, I pray that you will protect all that this act will place in danger. May your wisdom flood this Pastor in Florida. Please allow him to be lead by your Spirit and not a spirit of hatred.

In Jesus name...Amen.

Job had it rough

I've been thinking about Job lately. Man, did that guy have it rough. I can't say that I understand all that happened to him or why. I am certain of this however. God never left him alone in the middle of the mess.

I think sometimes we try too hard to find out the "Why" of our situation, when we should be thinking more of the "Who". Job spent some of his time wondering "Why" all these things happened to him, but at the end of the day he kept his faith in the one "Who" was seeing him through his troubles.

I'm thankful that I have a loving, merciful God who sent His Son to die for me! I'm also thankful that no matter how large the trial I may face, my God will always see me through.

(Just realized how long its been since I blogged....what a slacker I am)

Learning to drive

My son is 13 years old. Just recently he has been wanting to learn to drive a car. So a few days ago I took him (In my wife's car!) to an empty school parking lot just North of OKC. At first I let him sit in front of me. He directed all the steering and pedals, but I was there to help at a very close proximity. After about 15 minutes of this he wanted me to sit in the passenger seat and let him drive. Of course I was a little nervous about it, but felt he would do ok. (Especially with the emergency brake located between the seats!) So, with me in the passenger seat he began to putt around barely over an idle.

It was his first time ever to drive by himself. He didn't start out fast and he made a few mistakes. I relate this snippet out of my personal life to make the connection to our spiritual lives.

Believers need to know that is ok to start out slow. We need to remind ourselves that we will make some mistakes. There will be times we hit the curb or jam the brakes too hard. It's ok. Just as I was there for my son to guide him, God will be there as your guide in your life. What's important is that you allow God to speak into your life and help you make the right turns.

After we drove around the parking lot of that school for about 45 minutes, my son said, "I can't imagine driving this thing at 80mph". (I was secretly thinking...."Me either!")

You may be at an idle speed today in your spiritual life. Its ok. Take this time to listen to your guide and learn what He is teaching you about navigating this road He has you on. He may have you moving at a slower pace because there are some pot holes ahead. Just follow the guide.

I LOVE GIFT CARDS!

I'm so blessed these days to be able to Pastor such a great church. Having just come home from Africa the church realized that we didn't have anything to put into a house. Literally all we had was our clothes and a few other items. So, our great church held a house warming party for us. Katina and I were overwhelmed at the generosity of the people of Highpointe.

One thing in particular that I loved receiving was the Home Depot gift cards. Aren't gift cards great? They cost you nothing, but provide you a great benefit! Especially when you're running low on cash. They can be redeemed to buy just about anything!

Gods grace is similar. In Ephesians 1:7 it say's "In Him we have redemption through is blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace..." That word "Redemption" in the original Greek is 'apolutrosis' which means "A deliverance with a price."

I was able to take advantage of the gift cards and they cost me nothing but, it doesn't mean they were free. They did cost someone...something. The grace that God extends our way is free for us. However it did cost something. Maybe not for you and I, but for God most assuredly. It cost Him the life of His son Jesus.

Jesus came to buy us back from sin and death. When Jesus died on the cross, He was in essence purchasing our "Free" gift card of grace. Upon hearing the message of Christ forgiveness for the first time, you are presented with that gift card for you to redeem. Its completely up to you as to when and how you redeem it.

I could leave all these Home Depot cards here on the corner of my desk if I want, but how would that benefit me? Just having the ability to use the cards doesn't actually get my yard mowed (I plan to use some for a lawn mower) or get me a privacy fence or flowers for the yard. No, I must redeem them for them to benefit me.

What will you do with your "Grace Gift Card" today? Will you stick it into a pocket in your mind to use at some later date or will you redeem it today?

Most gift cards have an expiration. Even though it cost someone to purchase it. Believe this or not, God's grace has an expiration date (according to our salvation that is, God being 'gracious' will never change). That free gift of grace where you can redeem it for your salvation and have your sins removed........expires when Jesus returns or when you pass from this life. 2 things are certain in this life: Jesus will return and everyone has an end of their life.

Will you redeem before the expiration?

Can u say flame broiled?

This is what happens when you get caught up in conversation with friends and forget about your steaks!

Godly Sorrow?

When I was a boy I can remember times when I would get caught doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing. Sometimes it was eating snacks before dinner or not finishing my chores. When I would be found doing the wrong thing I always acted the same way. I would force out some tears and show how sorry I was for doing wrong. I did this in an attempt to convince my parents that punishment wasn't necessary because I was truly sorry for my actions. I would immediately begin to tell them I was sorry for what I had done, and I was! I was sorry that I had caught! I was sorry for the consequences of doing wrong, but not necessarily sorry FOR the wrong doing.

Other times I wouldn't get caught. I would go weeks doing something I wasn't supposed to do, but after time it would start to bother me that I was getting over on my parents. I would hear them say how proud they were of me to other people or how good I was doing in school, while in reality I was cheating on test. In these times I wouldn't force out tears or try to show my sincerity of being sorry because they didn't even know I was doing wrong. Eventually, guilt would get the best of me and I would secretly repent and stop the cheating. This time I repented because of the wrong I was doing even before their were consequences.

I believe these are two illustrations of what the Apostle Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 7:9-11. "9Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorry led you to repentance. for you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorry brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: What earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter."

Many people become sorry for the consequences of their sins but not for the sin itself.

Which person are you? Are you quick to repent of something you get caught for and slow to come to repentance before your sin is revealed?

I pray today that you will be sensitive to what God is revealing in your life about sin. Allow His grace and abundance of mercy to rush over you as you learn to be a person that is sorry for their sins...and not only sorry for the consequences.

What Heaven Must Be Like

I just had coffee with a dear saint of our church. She described to me the story of how her husband passed from this life to the next. It was the most touching story I've heard of someone going into eternity. She described to Katina and I that at the moment he was taking his last few breaths, he told his daughter he was at the gates of heaven. He was worried how they would find each other there when she arrived. The daughter assured her father that they would be able to find one another. She went on to tell her father to go ahead into the gates and wait for her and mother to arrive.

He closed his eyes for a few moments then suddenly opened them back up. As he did he quickly turned to look at the door behind him. His eyes then turned slowly across the room as though he was watching someone. Then very calmly he sit back onto his pillow, folded his hands in front of him, closed his eyes and passed on to heaven.

I can't help but think this man was able to visibly see heaven and even more, to watch as the angels came to take him there.

This great women of God told me that now she isn't afraid to die. She told me that the Christian has nothing to fear in death, for its just a going home.

I wonder, are you confident that when you pass from this life that Heaven will be waiting on you? You can, by placing your faith in God's only Son. Jesus came that you may have eternal life through Him. I pray that you will make that decision today.

See you on the other side!

National day of prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer, but yesterday one the staff and I were discussing how at some point the government could possibly try to force people not to recognize it. This conversation came about because today we have the opportunity to go to the capitol to pray with other church leaders.

It made me wonder...what if it really did start happening? What would you do if the government began to tell people we couldn't pray publicly anymore?

I can't help but think about our fellow brothers and sisters that are in countries where they can't pray nor worship publicly. There are many in other parts of the world who must hide in order to keep their lives if they worship Jesus as we do so freely here in America. I feel for them and pray for them daily.

I'm proud of my country and proud that we still can gather together and worship freely. It humbles me to know that its a privilege that we have. I pray that I never lose sight of the blessings that God has bestowed on me.

First post

Well I've set up this blog trying to be cool and enable the ability to send the post from my iphone. Not working. However, I will figure this out. Hopefully.

The last few months have been a whirlwind. 2 months ago I was sitting in my house in Kigali, Rwanda and tonight I'm typing these words from an apartment in OKC. I've gone from Missionary to Pastor in less than a month. It's been a little like a dream. A good dream though.

Although I will miss my Rwandan brothers and sisters, I'm crazy excited about Pastoring such an awesome church. Highpointe is filled with excited, hungry people. This is a great place to be right now. I've learned from the past that people who are hungry for God usually experience great things from God.

I seen that we have a great staff of people who love the church and want to see it grow. They are all talented and loving of the people. I'm glad my family and I are here to experience what God is about to do in OKC.