Dear Church Family, It is with Great Sadness that I Submit...

Gotcha!

Yesterday, I shared some application questions after my sermon. I thought I would post some of them here and allow you to share. Here is the message outline and a few application questions. I would love to have some of your thoughts and testimonies about what God teaching in the area of obedience.

God’s Game Plan: Obedience

Proverbs 3:1-4

1. Obeying God is the basis for sustaining a right relationship with the Lord (1-2).

a. A right relationship begins with a covenant relationship with the Lord.

b. A right relationship is sustained by obeying God’s commands (1)

c. A right relationship results in a life well lived (2)

2. Loving God is the reason for sustaining a right relationship with the Lord (3-4)

a. God devotes his love to his children (3a)

b. God’ deserves love from his children (3a)

c. God demands loyalty from his children (3b)

3. Life Application Questions:

a. Share a story of how you have experienced God’s faithfulness and steadfast love in your life recently.

b. How are you doing in showing your love for God? Are there areas in your life keeping you from loving God the way you should? Is God moving you outside of your comfort zone?

c. Are you loyal to God? Are you encountering situations that may keep you from being faithful to the Lord?

Are You Ready for Some Wisdom?

I am excited about the new sermon series starting this Sunday called "God's Game Plan." The third chapter of Proverbs teaches basic truths for winning at the game of life. If God's people are going to live a life well lived, then there are some fundamentals that must be followed.

It is said that when legendary coach Vince Lombardi started a new football season, he always started by holding up a football and saying,

"This is a football."

This Sunday's message is the most fundamental message for winning in life. You don't want to miss it.

Phil Cooke: 10 Secrets for Building Great Teams

Phil Cooke: 10 Secrets for Building Great Teams: "Create a powerful, creative culture, and trust me – a vision will happen."

A Tribute to My Bride: Sweet Sixteen!

On June 24, 1995 God gave me someone far more precious than gold, silver, or jewels. God gave me someone whom I do not deserve. He gave me an excellent wife. He gave me Christy Dawn Brashear.

For sixteen years, I have put trust in a wife and mother who is faithful to her God and family.

For sixteen years, she has creatively made our house into a home. It didn't matter if we were living in a parsonage next to the church, or even a church gym; she has always made our house a home.

For sixteen years, she has not been afraid to adventure out and find different ways to provide for our family. She definitely has an entrepreneur spirit and can do just about anything she decides to do.

For sixteen years, she has been an example of Christ-like love to the girls and me. She has been patient with me as God continues to perfect me into the image of Jesus. She obediently has followed my leadership even though much of her struggles in life have been a direct result of my struggles with insecurities and fears.

For sixteen years, she has faithfully served alongside of me in the ministry and has proven to be the best pastor's wife to ever grace this fallen world. She has helped me keep the focus of God's call upon us as a couple and the family; always pointing us to our family verse, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

For sixteen years, she has proven to be a great wife and mother, and is extremely worthy to be blessed and praised.

For sixteen years, she has shown consistency in living out this verse, "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30).

I praise my excellent wife for being a woman who loves God and people, and who wants to serve the Lord no matter what the cost.

I love you Christy Dawn. I look forward to spending the rest of my living years by your side. You will always be my best friend.

Happy Anniversary!

Gifts From God

Sometimes in the midst of intense struggles God will send you gifts to let you know that he hears you, and he is with you. Last week, God gave me two gifts all in one day. I was prayer walking early one morning and found myself wresting with regrets about past decisions. I was struggling with those decisions and wondering if I could move forward in my walk with God. While I am crying out to God in prayer, a song comes on my headphones that basically gave the answer I needed. The song was "The Blood" by Shane and Shane. It speaks about how the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sins. The moment the song started playing, I knew it was from God. It was his way of saying, "I love you, and I forgive you. Move forward." I started weeping with joy knowing that God was working in me and conforming me into the image of his Son.

Another struggle I was having in my prayer time was my preaching. I must admit that the last few months I have been under attack in the area of preaching. Some of the attacks have been external, and others internal. Within an hour of my prayer struggle with God, I received an email that I knew was a gift from God, one that encouraged me to persevere in my preaching.

I have decided to start praying for God to send little gifts to others just to let them know that he hears them and is with them.

Unbelieving Generation

What happens if we don't pray? Have you ever considered the ramifications of a life without prayer, or a church without prayer?

Recently, I was reading the story of Jesus' disciples who were among a large crowd a the base of a mountain (Mark 9). When Jesus reunited with them, He found the disciples arguing with the crowd. The argument, of course, stemmed from the disciples' inability to cast a demon out of a young boy.

Jesus, after hearing why they were arguing, said to the disciples and the crowd, “O unbelieving generation” (Mark 9:19). Jesus then proceeded to cast out the demon from the young boy.

When the disciples were in a private place with Jesus, they asked him, "Why couldn't we drive it (the demon) out?" Jesus replied, "This kind comes out only by prayer" (Mark 9:28-29).

What amazes me about this story is the fact that the disciples had already experienced success in casting out demons in a previous chapter. In the sixth chapter of Mark, we see Jesus sending out the disciples in groups of two, and they were able to do that which they could not do in chapter nine—cast out demons.

What happened? They did the same thing they did last time—they followed the same program, the same method, used the same authority that they used last time—so what happened?

Clearly, the reply that Jesus gave reveals the problem. They didn't pray. However, the fact that they didn't pray reveals a deeper issue. The deeper issue is unbelief. A prayerless church is an unbelieving church.

If we really believed that God wants to do a great work then why aren't more Christians praying?

If we really believe that God is the one that provides all of our needs, such as volunteers or finances, then why aren't more Christians praying?

If we really believe that God wants to add people to His flock, that is to say, grow the church through corporate prayer, then why aren't more Christians praying?

Why isn't the church truly a house of prayer? I am afraid that the answer is found in the discerning words of Jesus "O unbelieving generation."

My prayer is that we won't be numbered with the unbelieving. “… when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

Praying for Revival,

A Marriage that Works

In my experience as a pastor, I have had many opportunities to give counsel to couples who desire to marry. I ask the couples to take a test that will help them see the strengths and weaknesses of their relationship. One of the areas that is dealt with on the test is marriage expectations. Every couple that has taken the test has always had a low score in the area of expectations. The reason that most score low in this category is found in their unreal expectations concerning marriage.

Every couple has a picture of marriage that is many times far from reality. They often think that the problems they face now will magically go away when they get married. They think that the fights that they have now will go away when they get married. They are wearing rose colored glasses when it comes to marriage.

My job in the counseling sessions is to take off those glasses and graciously aid them in understanding that marriage is a beautiful gift from God, but it is hard work. I try to tell them that successful marriages, that is to say, marriages that truly work are marriages where the devoted couples work hard to make it work. I communicate to them that a marriage that works is one where the married couples work hard at making it work.

If I was only allowed one piece of advice to give to married or about to be married couples it would be these words from the Lord Jesus Christ, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Marriages that work are marriages where God’s people are denying self and following Christ, meaning that God’s people are truly wanting to be disciples of Christ. Marriage is discipleship, and the sooner couples understand that reality, the sooner they can enjoy the fruit of discipleship in their marriage.

This study from the book of Malachi will give great principles to married couples on how to have a working marriage. The principles will be gleaned from marriages that were not working, and because they were not working they were not pleasing the Lord.