When we fail to change, we fail.

This past weekend I was able to meet Lou Holtz and hear him speak at a dentist conference in Orlando.. Being a Notre Dame fan this was a great moment for me but it went beyond my love for football. My Dad first introduced me to Lou through motivational videos. They were messages designed for companies big and small. I remember as a young boy hearing Lou's words of wisdom about doing right, doing your best, and treating others as you want to be treated. It was great to hear that Lou's message hadn't changed much over the years but his passion and desire for excellence had not lost any of it's vigor. Being a National Championship winning head coach of Notre Dame and being an ESPN analyst seemed to hold the same importance to Lou.
One of the stories he shared with us in his message was about the year after Notre Dame had won the National Championship. The coaching staff decided to try and recreate the past year. Essentially they decided to try and stay at their current level of excellence. He said it was the biggest mistake he ever made coaching. That struck me as odd. The greatest mistake was trying to be the same as last year?
As we begin this Life Journey together I think it's important to know that change is good and healthy. We can not focus on being static. We must never change our message, but change it's presentation. A change is coming Church. God is not content with us remaining the same. Churches that reach people are Churches that change. It's all about going to the next level. It's true in marriage, business, friendships, sports and Church. Let's prepare our hearts for what God is going to do next and the change He wants to bring in our lives.

"It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money.
"After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'
"The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'
"The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'
"The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. "'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.

-Matthew 14-30 The Message

kids camp

So I'm off today to the kids camp. It brings back great memories of kids camp up in Indiana. I can't wait to see what God has in store for these kids. I hope that it gives me a chance to just worship and minister in anyway that I can.

Thank you Jesus for Your love.

I'll be back Thursday and I'll miss my wife a lot.

Phonies

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.



...be careful church

Sacrifice

Hebrews 10:18
And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

I think we approach church as a way for us to make up for all the bad stuff we've done all week, rather than remembering that we can go worship because the final sacrifice has already been made.
When we understand that God needs no more sacrifice we are free to just love Him.

Leadership

Daniel 4:17b
the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.
He gives them to anyone he chooses

Every position is temporary and God appointed. This revelation is perspective changing. I'm beginning to see that my position at Legacy didn't come by anything I've done but only because God wanted me there for a reason, and it's His reasons.

The First Promise

Genesis 12:2-3
2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

God's first promise was a blessing and that blessing is Jesus.

What Keeps You From Worshiping?

A couple years back I was playing with a Christian
Rock band called Two Towns Over. We toured and
played all over Florida and had a lot of fun doing it.
I remember one concert in particular outside on the
beach. It was a night worship service in front of a Church
right off of A1A. Th e words to the songs were projected
on the front of the Church and everyone from the road
could see it. We had finished our set and a local worship
band was playing. There were a lot of people there and
I was excited to worship in a public setting under the
stars with the cool salty breeze coming off the ocean.
It was great, until I heard someone shouting from
behind us, “Satan Rules” and derogatory terms about Jesus.
I turned around and saw two kids on bikes, dressed in all
black and sweaty from all the riding they must had been
doing. Th e shouting got worse and people began to become
more than annoyed. I got angry, and I mean real “I’m going
to beat them with a bible” anger. I stopped singing and
walked in their direction. As I got closer the anger grew
and grew, their shouting got softer and softer until silence.
At that very moment something changed in my heart,
I said a half second prayer that seemed like twenty four
hours of prayer and fasting. I said “God, speak through me.”
Just like that, my heart was changed and I talked with
them about what they believed and as I spoke to them
more gathered around us to listen to the two atheist
high school students. We invited them to an after party
at my friends house where we played more worship
music, and everybody treated those two high schoolers
like best friends. They stayed and even started singing
some of the songs with us. I don’t know if they ever
started going to church or were baptized and saved. But
I do know that we didn’t let Satan ruin our worship, in
fact God turned something evil into something good.
What keeps you from worshiping? What stops you in your
daily life from singing His praises. Is it the guy that cut you
off in traffic while you were listening to the Christian radio
station? Is it the new songs we do in Church? Is it the lighting?
Th e baby crying next to you? Is it anything? Or is it you?
I think what really keeps us from worship is ourself.
We get in the way with what we want out of worship (say
that five times fast). We fear intimacy with God, and are
distracted easily.
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor
any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If nothing can separate us from His love, we should not
allow anything to separate our love from Him