And When They Had Prayed.....

I have a friend who is committed to working out and eating right. He lets nothing get in the way of the time he has set aside to work out. When I was driving home the other day and saw him walking to the gym, I thought to myself, "Wow, If i could just be as dedicated to prayer as he is to working out." I thought to myself though, What drives him to do it? It was then I remembered that the answer came straight out of his mouth recently. He said it was because of the results!

Prayer is the same way, I know that when I pray, I see results and it pushes me to pray more, why? Because God's faithfulness to answer my prayers increases my faith and stirs my zeal.

"And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31 ESV 

We could walk through the book of Acts and see endless correlations between the prayers of the Church and God moving in power. The key to the place being shaken, people being filled with the Spirit, and speaking with boldness came "When they had prayed". 

My friend's results in the gym did not come from half-hearted efforts, but rather a die hard commitment to doing something. When we, as the church, commit to truly praying we too can see Kingdom results. We will see marriages healed, sick made well, souls saved, disciples made, and churches established. 

If I worked out i might have abs, If I worked out i might be healthier......

Now ask this question

If we had prayed..... you fill in that blank.....

This is not to condemn but to challenge ourselves. If you are not okay with the status quo than I would challenge you to pray, because it is when we pray things happen. 

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In Him Was Life!

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. "John 1:4-5 ESV

Since the end of last year, as a church, we have been walking through the book of John. It has been refreshing to simply look at John's gospel and look at the life of Jesus. I have always been a fan of John 1, but since the first of this year the above text from John 1:4-5 has haunted me wherever i go.

See people were drawn to Jesus. People crowded the streets to see him, they pushed through crowds to touch him, they stormed into dinner parties to anoint him.  They wanted to know this man who was full of mercy, forgiveness, patience, and love.

When I drive around my city I constantly hear this scripture ringing in my ears and it pushes me to pray. My prayer for this year is "Lord i don't want to be a people with the right answers, but a people of your presence.". Because I find everything I need in His presence. 

I Want His Presence 

For so long I think we have been satisfied with having the right answers, but have we contended for his presence? Don't get me wrong I believe the the Lord is always with me because of his grace, I believe that I have his spirit living inside me, but I want to contend for the intimacy with the Lord that causes people to feel him when I am near.  

That itself makes you rethink your church planting strategy. It puts into focus your priorities when trying to reach a city. What use are strategies if we do not have his presence! Lets talk about investing. While we can invest in different tools and marketing materials, nothing beats time invested in prayer and worship. 

"But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:6 ESV)

When I tell people that we have come to plant a church, I see the response in their eyes, "Oh another one....". I do not want to come before these people empty handed.

Darkness will not be pushed back with great messages, music or even the right answers. It will only be pushed back by light, and that light is the life that is found in Jesus!

In Christ is life, and that life is the light of the world!

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Feb 2016- Saved By Grace, But Called To Work!

Hey guys, I know it has been a couple of months since I have updated you guys to what is going on here in Macon. Please forgive me, I'm hoping to make a habit or communicating with you more often. So stay in touch to see what will be happening this year. 

I'm saved by GRACE, but called to WORK

We've now been here serving Macon for over a year now. In many ways, I'll confess, we have under estimated the amount of WORK that is put into planting a church. Now I'm a preacher who is fully convinced of the grace of God and that I'm saved by grace and not by works, but anyone who has gone out to establish a ministry knows that there is WORK to be done to tell people about that GRACE. It involves money to support those working and laboring, it takes time to pour into and train other laborers, it takes building relationships in the community as a means of support and networking, and most of all it takes hours and hours of PRAYER!

Its not what you know, but how you've grown

I would be lying to you if I said there were not times of discouragement and times of weakness in this journey. I'm convinced that church planting hinges on the personal development of the planters. I say planters because it can't be done by just one person but rather a team of people, but that is for another time. In those times of discouragement we have found opportunities to grow, adapt and move forward. If we had not grown, we would have died. 

So what are the highlights of 2016:

We have discipled. We were able to spend enormous amounts of time pouring into the team the Lord has given us, the future of what we do here doesn't not hinge on what I can do but what WE can do. And as my pastor, Chad Waller, says "together we are stronger". If i came to this city and built a large meeting and no one ever learned how to minister and declare God's goodness than I would fail to do what I have been commissioned to do. That is to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Eph 4:12). 

We have learned. You can't learn unless you make mistakes. It is said that Thomas Edison failed at the light bulb around 1000 times. Not many people talk about his failures, but rather his success at creating the light bulb. When we first started this journey I was afraid to fail, but have since embraced failing so that I can learn. Jesus himself said that he opposes the proud but gives grace to humble. 

We have networked. I have had the privilege this last year of standing before a handful of different churches and communicating  my heart and vision not only for Macon, but for Central Georgia. I have had the opportunity to meet church planters who have moved to Central Georgia in the hopes of seeing God move in this region.  I'm convinced that we need the WHOLE BODY to effectively reach this city. When every part of the body is doing what it is called to do than it grows (Eph 4:15-16).

If you have read this far I'm honored, I would ask that you would do one thing for us though. Pray! 

Pray for Laborers. Pray for us to continue to find the right people who will join us in reaching this city.

Pray for Wisdom. Pray that the Spirit will lead us and guide as as we look to effectively reach and disciple people.  

Pray for Divine Encounters. Pray that the Lord would position us all in places to be able to minister to people who are in need. 

Until next time I pray you are all blessed and abounding in the work of the Lord. 

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