How to Change Your Life in 7 Days

Pastor Bil Cornelius Senior Pastor for Bay Area Fellowship has a great series on his blog called "How to Change Your Life in 7 Days". Here are the links:

Step One: Acknowledge What Needs to Change
Step Two: Create Your Future on Paper
Step Three: Commit
Step Four: Deposit the Price
Step Five: Make Course Corrections
Step Six: Celebrate Your Mile Markers
Step Seven: Honor God with the Rewards

Take The Hit

Failure isn't final
losing isn't fatal
if we don't quit.

It is the pursuit
the drive
the consistent push
to not allow life to knock us down.

Keep getting up...
Keep driving forward
Don't QUIT!



Philippians 3:12-14 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

When you're playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how much you'll fight for the winners circle. If you do, someday the cellophane will crackle off a fresh pack, one that belongs to you, and the cards will be stacked in your favor. - Pat Riley

How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.
-Lou Holtz

The Answer Is Not A Black President

It's also not a white one either.

The answer to our problems is not having the first black president.

The answer to our problems is not having the first woman vice president.

It is not because one side says we need change. But change is what we need.

This may sound a little cliche. What we need to change is the apathy of the church. We need to rise up and be the church and quit playing like we are the church. We need to change the thinking in church that the answer is either with the republicans or the democrats. The reality is that for half the country either side will screw it up.

The answer is that the church needs to keep back to truly relying on Christ as the answer. We need to not get wrapped up in the hype. Both parties threw a Hail Mary and I'm positive about one thing. The Democrats are not going to turn this around...and neither are the Republicans.

Nope, neither are the answer....CHRIST IS.

I Am A Christian

I got to get this one off my chest...here I go.

I think many people should stop saying "I'm A Christian".

This is probably one of the most highly used statements in Christianity that should probably stop being used.

Let me break it down by what I mean.

First, off the word "Christian" in English broken down means, "Christ - like". Therefore when you say I'm a Christian you are saying I'm like - Christ.

Now I know there is the thought that yes I have committed to following Him and I've prayed a prayer and yes all things are created new...and now I'm a new person in Him. I don't deny that.

But I want to get down to the essence. There has to be something different with and about our lives. People should see something.

I think that is why the term was first used to refer to the early believers in Antioch. See Acts 11:26

But I don't believe it was used by themselves...I believe that it was those around them that saw something so unique...so "like-Christ" that they used that term. I believe that it is a stronger term when someone on the outside can look at us and say "Christian". I believe it is easy to say it on our own. I believe it could be more of a reality when someone says it of us.

Full Out

Why do you do the things you do?

Are you living your life full out?

Is your life centered around Christ or everything else?

I reflect on that now as I sit here writing. Jesus said follow me. He said for me to pick up my cross.

Have I??? Have you???

Failure Isn't Fatal

If you've never failed....you've never lived.



Also check out my blog series "Keep Moving Forward" in which I deal with failure:

Keep Moving Forward Part 1
Keep Moving Forward Part 2
Keep Moving Forward Part 3
Keep Moving Forward Part 4
Keep Moving Forward Part 5

His Will

Sometimes it's scary to let go.
His will doesn't mean life will be perfect.
Sometimes His will is in the middle of a storm.
Sometimes when you let go you won't know.

But...it is in His will that we can find who we are.
We can find His peace.

Joy and sorrow can be in His will.
That may seem like a conflict but....

Life truly is not lived until we are in His will.

I Can

I can because He made me.
I don't doubt or hesitate.
I push forward.
I walk over obstacles.
Fear...there is none.
Joy...is overflowing.
I'm in my groove.
My zone is His will.
I don't wonder if I can.
I don't think I can.
It's not because "I" say I can.
Because He made me...I CAN

Just Be You

Just be you...who He created you to be.
Don't try to be a copy of another...you will never be the best they can be.

A Desire To Reach People

Personally, I don't fight back the desires that I know God has placed in me. Fifteen years ago I would not have cared a single bit about someone going to a church and following Christ. Now, that's a different story.

The desire to reach as many people as possible is not a desire that I came up with on my on. It's not about a show. It's not about being famous.

It honestly comes from a desire to help others move from one road in life to a better road. I have know hundreds of people who have had their lives changed. I'm also one of those people who changed roads. It is not about us being "right". It is about helping people see what they may not already see.

Some people say as a pastor I just need to be content and let God bring in those He will bring in. Personally I don't see that. He said, "Go into all the world". He said, "bring them in." (I know that second example is within a parable, but "for me" I take that one personally as a charge to bring in people to church.)

I don't want to push my giftings on any other person reading this...but...I don't think it is about giftings as much as it is about COMMAND. That is why we do what we do...it is why I push so hard...it is why we must reach this world.

Honestly if every church would wake up and just go for it...well I'll leave you to wonder about what the results might be.

[photo credit flickr.com]

Go To or Come See

When it comes to evangelism there are two perspectives...wait...there are two ways it can happen.

Go To
In practically all of the Gospels, Jesus said "GO". We are commanded to go into the world, to be the salt and the light. When it comes to evangelism as it pertains to the church, we must go out.

Come See
The flip side is "Come See". Philip told Nathaniel to come see for himself what was happening. I think that is huge as well. Many people say evangelism should all take place outside the church. I don't feel that is even a totally biblical point.

This is huge for a church. If you can effectively equip your people to go out and tell people to come see, you can reach your community.

Question is what are we giving them to come and see? Are they seeing the gospel in action? Are they seeing lives being changed? Are we effectively developing them to live a life of purpose?

Thoughts????

[photo credit by flickr.com]

I Can't Handle It

Over the past year I have been struggling with a statement that I have heard over and over. On the surface this statement sounds great. It is comforting. It makes us feel good.

Now I am actually questioning the accuracy and validity of it. Is it even biblical?
I actually heard it said this past week. The statement?

“God never gives us more than we can handle.”

As I said, this statement sounds good, but I really have begun to challenge it. Partly, I would say that this comes from my experience. It also hasn’t been something I just came up with overnight either.

Over the past year I can actually say that I don’t know how I handled the year. The pressure and stress were almost too much to handle. Some people would say, “See, I told you God wouldn’t give you more than you could handle.”

In some upcoming posts I hope to dive into this thought a little bit but would love to get your feedback.

What do you think? Does God only give you what you can handle?

I'm A Little Crazy

Am I crazy? I think crazy is the essence of faith.

It's crazy to walk around a city 7 times thinking it going to fall down.

It's crazy walking up to the Jordan river in the hopes that it will split.

It's crazy to dip yourself in a river seven times thinking you are going to be healed.

It's crazy to get out of a boat, put your foot down on the water and walk on top.

It's crazy for 7 or 8 families to uproot themselves and move to another city and launch a church.

It's crazy to get a report from a doctor and say that you are going to believe the report from the Lord.

Am I making my point yet? You may or may not totally agree. But in my book you have to be a little crazy. Faith demands a little or a lot of craziness.

How has your faith been crazy? I want to hear your story.

Pushing Through

One thing I've seen in my families life is that when something great is about to happen something bad always seems to happen in conjunction with it.

Is there anyone else that happens too?

For example over the past month every time we are going to have one of our core team meetings my wife gets sick either the night before or the day of. Why it happens, I have not clue.

What I do know is that there are times in our lives when we need to be resilient.

Resilient means returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, or stretched or marked by the ability to recover readily, as from misfortune.

There are times when we are going to be stretched spiritually. When our adversary, the devil, knows something good is about to happen, he will pull all the stops out to keep us from becoming all God wants us to be.

That is why we must be resilient. We must see that happening and push through it. We must snap back quickly and press forward.

When All Hell Lines Up Against You...All of Heaven Rises Up For You!

What area do you need to be more resilient in?

I Dwelt In The Darkness

As some of you may have picked up on over my past few confession posts, I've kind of had a hard time lately.

In fact, it has not been just lately. It all started in July of 2007 when I had to turn in my resignation. Honestly, them asking me to resign was the best thing that could have ever happened for me. Only problem, is it was the start of what I felt has been the darkest nine months of my life.

It is interesting that I say that because early in 2007, I spoke two messages called God Dwells In The Darkness. You can read some more of my thoughts on that here, here, and here. Sometimes it's easy to get up and preach a message than to live it. I had thought I had gone through some dark times before, but had no idea what was to come.

Throughout this whole process I have kept my faith. There were times I wanted to pack it all it. There were times I wanted to shout at God and blame Him. There were times I didn't want to even set foot in a church. When you are hurt by a pastor and church as hard as we were hit with (twice in three months)...you might feel the same way.

So this has been one of the darkest moments in my life and all I have been able to do is stand...and when there was nothing else to do I would stand some more (Eph 6:13).

And after all that standing the result is that my faith is now stronger...I am more resilient...and I am pumped for what the future is about to bring (James 1:2-4). The sunrise has broken through the darkness (Psalm 112:4). The snare has been broken (Psalm 124:7).

God, over the past two weeks, has used some people to pump my confidence back up. I was beginning to question myself seriously. A huge thank you goes out to this guy, this guy, this guy, and this guy specifically for little things you have done over these past two weeks. You have allowed God to use you to breathe life back in to me. I could not say enough about my wife standing firm beside me as well.

I also have a huge, huge, huge announcement coming, hopefully next week. I'm so pumped and excited. It is a great opportunity we have accepted for our church plant. So stay tuned as you may hear about it very, very soon. Thanks for being patient through my confessions and for reading.

As a side note, this blog throughout this time has continued to grow. My hits have gone up around 25% and subscriptions have just about tripled since December. Thanks for being a loyal reader here. And now I'll turn this blog back over to bringing you ministry content that will help you minister more effectively.

[Photo Credit to flikr.com]

Tyranny Of The Now

How many of you out there are like me? You are working hard for a better future, while continuing to move forward out of your past.

Only one problem...THE TYRANNY OF THE NOW.

Now slaps you in the face. Now says the bill is due yesterday what are you going to do. Now says "I know what God's promises say, BUT I have this need NOW."

Now seems to be very uncaring, unforgiving, matter of fact...NOW is just...well...NOW!

That's where I am right now. Now doesn't seem to be caring. It really doesn't care how hard I'm working or that I'm trying to improve. It wakes up with me every morning and is there when I'm trying to go to sleep.

I'm not sure if I'm sounding kind of fickle right now but I know I have got to move past it. I also can't pretend that now is going to go away either.

All I do know is that Psalm 121:1-2 is ringing true to me right now.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Lord, those are Your words. My help comes from You. You are our only way out.

The only way to escape is to hold tight to His promises. Keep the faith no matter what. No matter what the situation looks like. No matter how hard it may seem. It says it right there, "my help will come from the LORD".

Here's the catch...God works through people. We are His hands and His feet. How many people around you are going through the now and you may not be listening? He has blessed us and equipped us to make a difference in the world around us. Are you listening and being aware? You could be the help for someone's NOW.

And if you are going through the NOW...be encouraged. God is for you and has not left you. He cares for you and loves you. I know that sometimes doesn't change the NOW...but hold on to Him. He is your source and your strength.

Sorry I high-jacked my blog everyone...but I needed a little encouragement tonight. The tyranny is about to stop for the Lord is on my side.

How are you facing the tyranny of the NOW?

Lessons Learned From The 21 Day Journal Challenge

For the past 21 days I have been on a journal challenge. I have consistently read one chapter in the book of John each day and journaled on it. I would pick out one scripture I felt God was speaking to me and write a reflection and a prayer.

After 21 days I have learned some things about myself. I have also heard from God through His Word on a more consistent basis.

Journaling for me is here to stay. It is one reason I created a personal blog not to bog Making Difference Makers down. I encourage you to take the challenge. Challenge yourself by reading and journaling through John or any book of the Bible. For December, I am going to be on a 28-day Challenge on my personal blog. Anyone willing to take that challenge with me?

Here are my top takeaways from this experience:

1. HEARING FROM GOD DAILY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DISCIPLINE

As a church planter/pastor this has become a reality to me lately. For many years I had a hit and miss approach. Often I was on the read through the bible in a year plan and because I was busy I would just read and not reflect on what I read. Through journaling though I felt God leading me on a journey. I could tell see how He would speak to me on a theme that would recur. He also led me to some Scriptures that reflected some personal struggles.

Our walk with Christ is a two-way street. God does want to speak to us and He does so through His Word. Journaling made me slow down so I could hear Him.

2. CONSISTENT FEEDING PROGRAM

Journaling, especially on a challenge like this, forced me to be consistent. To often Christians over rely on Church to "feed" them. What that has created is a bunch of Christians or a modern day "church" that is weak.

Yes, church can be a time where we can gather together and hear a message that challenges us on a personal level, but as a Christian it is your responsibility to build in the consistent daily spiritual disciplines for your life.

3. JOURNALING UNITES MANY DISCIPLINES

Journaling, for me, united many spiritual disciplines. It combines reading God's Word, meditation, reflection, prayer, and hearing God speak. I can find no other thing that can challenge us to that level.

Journey Through John Day #21 (John 21)

Read - John 21

My Key Verse - John 21:24 This is the same disciple who was eyewitness to all these things and wrote them down. And we all know that his eyewitness account is reliable and accurate.

My Reflection - This scripture is probably a great way to sum up journaling. If it wasn't for four men who had decided to journal we wouldn't have the gospels. Each of them had their unique way of how they filtered the events of Jesus' life.

It is important that we take up this challenge to journal. It can be hard sometimes to put the time in. It is, though, imperative that we hear from God.

Dave Ferguson wrote about three things he has learned from journaling:

1. WE ALL NEED TO HEAR FROM GOD EVERYDAY.
2. JOURNALING IS A GREAT MULTI-FACETED SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE.
3. WE NEED TO GROW FROM "BEING FED" TO "FEEDING OURSELVES" TO "FEEDING OTHERS".

I would have to concur with those three things.

My Prayer - Father help me to stay strong in hearing from you and making it consistent.

Journey Through John Day #20 (John 20)

Read - John 20

My Key Verse - John 20:23 "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"

My Reflection - This is something I've been dealing with for the past six months. I had a conversation with God about this the other day. In a nut shell He said forgiving them doesn't admit they are right.

That has been my sticking point in forgiving. I felt that forgiving them would be admitting that I was wrong. Part of me is tired of people hurting people and then sticking their hand out and saying "I'm so sorry I hurt you." Sometimes I'm really good about doing that with my wife.

Forgiveness doesn't mean they are off the hook with God and it doesn't mean that what they did is not wrong. Forgiveness is a state of walking in the freedom that God grants us.

I so liked though how Jesus put it there at the end of the verse. "If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?" Come on Jesus preach it to me. Am I going to keep them on my trophy shelf of wounds? My wall of hurt? Am I going to walk around with this cloud of gloom over my head so proud of all the unforgiveness I have?

Really what are we going to do with them? Me...I'm going to let them go and give them to God.

My Prayer - Lord help me to let go of the hurts of the past. Help me to not hold my life back by holding on to these issues. Thank you for forgiving me.

Journey Through John Day #19 (John 19)

Read - John 19

My Key Verse - John 19:16 Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned him over to be crucified. The Crucifixion They took Jesus away.

My Reflection - Look at what happened to poor Pilate. The decision he made wasn't the one that he wanted to make. What happened is that he caved. He caved to the pressure of the people around him.

As a leader it is important that we don't cave. We are going to be surrounded by people who are going to want to do church their way. They will want to change the vision to fit their wants. They will pressure you to go from what God has laid on your heart.

We must stay the course and run the race God has called us to. The vision God has laid on your heart must not change. We must not steer from that vision. Sometimes those around you must go but not the vision.

My Prayer - Lord help me always stay to the vision you have called me to. Don't let circumstances or people let me cave to the desires of your heart for my life and this area.