It's TIME!!!

I have to say that i love this time of the year. College football is kicking off tonight with some SEC action. Vanderbilt and South Carolina both open up their seasons with what should be easy wins for both schools. I love all of the hype and talk (thank the Lord for the internet) about who will end up on top in January and who is favored in what games. All of it is great fun but at the end of the day, it means nothing. Predictions from the top analysts and the pre-season polls are just opinions. There is no real way of knowing what will happen until the teams take the field. In other words, talking is great but we have to wait and see what each team will do. There are some great teams who have recruited well and have great coaches and are ranked very high nationally in the pre-season but have a mediocre or loosing seasons. Why? It can be for tons of reasons. Team leadership, morale, injuries, unity and on and on.

It's a lot like people. Listening to people say what they are going to do is great. Hearing a person tell me how great their past has been (last years season)is wonderful. But just like a football game, we have to wait and see what they do. What we say and what we do are sometimes worlds apart.
That's why i think there should be no pre-season polls. I think they should wait for one month of play and then release the polls. We can't argue with that. It's all about what each team has done up to that point. It's also a great way of measuring a persons leadership ability. All the hype is great and it makes for some good conversation to pass the time but i love to be around people who perform. Even if what they are doing isn't exactly right. At least they are in the game getting knocked around. Sooooo Roll Tide Roll!!

Thoughts from my devotion

This morning (i couldn't sleep past 3:30 AGAIN!) i had a great time reading the book of Esther. I could really sense God's presence as i was reading this awesome book.
Here are some things that spoke to me this morning:

Pride
I could see parts of myself in Haman. All of his actions came from a heart full of pride. To the point that he ordered an entire race of people in his land murdered. All because Mordecai wouldn't bow to him. At times their have been instances in my life where i felt like i wasn't "treated" right. After all, i have PASTOR in front of my name!!! It's so easy for this to creep in when left unchecked.

Patience
I just love the fact that Mordecai displayed patience and allowed God to work His plan. So many times i try to figure things out and get ahead of what God wants to do. I am learning to take my time and watch what God is doing and then follow Him. It always works out better that way!!!!

Purpose
Imagine what Esther was feeling when she began to realize that God had set the stage for deliverance and she was a main player!!! You know, i believe that it's Gods desire that we live everyday with that same sense of Destiny over our lives. The truth is, we are someone's deliverance. We are the answer to someones problem. Someone in your life needs the gift that is in you. Think about it........who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this!

Can't wait

It is Saturday night and i cannot wait to get to church. I know it sounds corny but i REALLY can't wait to worship with the people of Destiny Church. Why???

I know God will show up!
Each week is a great experience that i have with God's people that i cannot get alone.

Someone will come to Christ!
There is no greater feeling when someone hears the gospel for the first time and accepts Christ. That NEVER gets old.

I get to meet our first time guests!
It is always a pleasure to watch our first time guests experience the welcoming love from Destiny!

I get to hear how God has touched the life of a friend.......again!
Every week i have someone walk up to me before or after service and share an AMAZING testimony of how God has shown up in their lives in some very real ways. I LOVE it!!!

Church

It happened again. I was out of the house on some business a few days ago when i had the opportunity to talk with a lady that attends Destiny. She is a new, growing Christian and has a friend that isn't saved. She began to tell me how her friend was involved in Kaballah and gave it up a few years ago. They began to talk about God and her friend's point of view was that any path could lead to God and that each person didn't need someone else to "channel" them to God. Well, the woman from Destiny got pretty confused because she didn't know what to say or how to defend her faith.
I had the opportunity to simply explain to her how sin entered the race of humans and how big of a gap that created between us and God because He is Holy and Righteous and Just. Being good can't do it. We are all born sinners. I then told her how that Jesus was born and his mom was a virgin and His Dad..........wasn't a earthly man........and His Blood was not corrupt with sin. At that point, her eyes got so big i thought they were going to jump out of her head! She GOT IT!!! She understood then why Jesus is the only qualified path to God and that just being good can't do it.
Those moments for me are "church". That's why i live. Her walk is strengthened and her faith is sure. I LOVE VEGAS!

Lids

Often times in my life I have come to places in my personal growth where I hit "lids". You know, those blind spots that you have that everybody else can see but you?? We all have them. I have them right now and am unaware of them. I HATE them. Even when i am reading books and listening to CD's and am spending time in God's word they are still there. I have been so blind to some of them that i didn't even have a clue that what i was reading or listening to could remotely apply to me! Thats when i have had a person in my life pull me off and point them out to me. I have to admit it is painful. Partly because we are so in love with ourselves we can take things like that personal and partly because we are so blind to them it kinda is like getting hit and not seeing it coming. Looking back over those times in my life where a friend or mentor pointed something out, they have been right 100% of the time. Most of the time i didn't believe them at first and even argued with some. I left thinking "They just don't understand the whole situation" or even worse i began to look at their flaws.
I am grateful that God placed people in my life that were not afraid to risk hurting my feelings to tell me a truth that will save me years of pain and potentially cause me not to reach my potential. Do you have someone like that in your life? Have you ever been told about a blind spot that you just didn't see? I would love to hear about it.

And then it happened.

I am sitting here at my desk going over my sermon and playing out the day in my mind. How it will look, the service transitions, worship and so on. I am talking to God and listening to some worship and getting in His presence. I am wondering who will be there and how the sermon will go........and then it happened. I got a phone call from a family in our church. Their story is absolutely awesome. I do not have time to share all of it but for the last few weeks there have been some issues and today it kind of came to a head. He told me that he picked up the phone to "deal with this" by screaming and going off and giving them a piece of his mind and then he said that he stopped at the phone and said out loud to his wife, "You know we have been going to church. And everything we have been hearing is about forgiveness and we are trying to be a better religous family." He then picked up the phone and was calm and reached out in love.
For me......that was church. Not a Sunday service or a sermon or a worship set. This guy who, six months ago wouldn't set foot in a church, was now adjusting his decisions to God's word. That's church for me. That's the real life of a Christ follower.
I love what i get to do.

Church Planters

This week I had a meeting with a church planter new to the valley. He has started a home bible study in the Spring Valley area. We met at Starbucks and when i walked in, there sat Shane Phillips (The pastor of The Crossings) with another church planter that will be doing something near the strip. Over the past few months i have had a lot of contact with guys that are planting here and all over the country. It is really awesome to hear their stories and see how God is doing miracles and opening doors for them. It really gives me a look into what God is doing all over the place. God is active and moving right here in our church and all over the world. Sometimes its easy to get all caught up in our little worlds that we miss the big picture. We are not doing "our" thing. We are apart of a much bigger picture that God wants to accomplish in our generation. Its very exciting to think in terms of purpose and destiny. To KNOW that i am where i am supposed to be, doing what i am supposed to be doing, when i am supposed to be doing it!! I love it and couldn't dream of doing anything else.