These are some of the things God has been putting on my heart to pray for the past few weeks:

• This guy and his family. I folow his church and have seen him lead worship, so he has been on my heart the past few weeks. Read this and you will see why I have been praying for him.
• Other churches. Specifically NewSpring, Elevation, and Lifechurch.tv. Also the pastors of those churches Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, and Craig Groeschel. These churches have had a big influence on me the past few years and I love reading these guys blogs. They have really encouraged me and forced me to grow with their wisdom and insight. If you haven’t read their blogs yet head over and check them out.
• My wife and her lupus. I am praying for God to heal her and give her relief from the chronic pain that comes with the disease.
• My little minions. I am always praying for them(as well as my wife), but really have been praying for them lately just in regards to their future.
• My new church.God has led us to a great church in the last month. It is less then a year old and the vision and passion God has given them for the lost is awesome. I am praying for wisdom and guidance in serving God and the church, and praying for vision and strategy for the leaders.

So those are some of the things God really laid on me in the past few weeks to be praying about. What are you praying about? I would love to hear so we can be praying together.

I was thinking a few days ago about some life lessons I learned from my dad and wanted to share some of them with you.

#1 Responsibility

When I was 10 or 11 I was really into hockey. No being that I lived in sunny, warm SoCal, ice hockey was not something that was available to me, so I played street hockey, but I loved watching the NHL (National Hockey League, which based upon their ratings i would venture you may not have heard of them ). Well back then the LA Kings had a certain guy named Wayne Gretzky, and they were a pretty good team. They had made the playoffs and were in a game 7 for the conference championship. Now, I don’t know how, but we somehow manged to get free tickets to the game. Needless to say I was stoked. Read the rest of this entry »

#1 Pray

OK, So it’s not the big huge idea you were expecting maybe. But what better thing to do for the 4th of July then to set aside time as a church to pray for the country, it’s leaders, and citizens. It’s a small thing but it can a be a big one.

#2 - Throw a BBQ

I know it probably seems like a lame idea, right? Well, not if you do it a little different. Try setting up at the local park, or local venue for fireworks, and throw a FREE BBQ. That’s right, free, as in no strings attached, no donations accepted, no tracks passed out, no attempts to promote the church - other then telling people who ask, no preaching, teaching, or anything. Just FREE.

Why do this you ask? What benefit does this have for the church? Well besides just being a great thing for your community, it does promote your church. people will inevitably ask why you are doing this and who you are. At that point you tell them the truth. “We are (Your Church Name). And we are just out here to do something nice for the community”. You will probably even have some people ask when you meet and such so you should have some small, and I stress small, invite cards handy to give those that ask.

It may not seem like muc for the amount of work and money involved, but hey serving the community should be blessing enough.

And on a side note please go to a public place to do this, not your church parking lot. If you do this from the parking lot you will miss a huge opportunity to reach people who will take the opportunity in a park, but would drive past a free BBQ in a church parking lot.

***Another easier variation on this would be to only hand out free (cold) sodas/waters to people.***

#3 - Do A Giveaway For Military/Vets

Our active duty military give up a lot to serve our country and often times aren’t acknowledged or rewarded very often. Go out and get some things to offer in a giveaway to active duty military personnel. Weather you have to buy it or ask for donations. It is a great way to say thanks to those who are currently protecting us.

Some things you could give away:

• Gift Certificates(Restaurants/Movies/Sbux/Retail Stores)
• Video Game Consoles/Games
• I-pods/MP3 Players
• Gift Baskets
• Anything and everything you can get donated in new condition.

How would you get some of these items? Well besides buying them as a church or asking attenders to donate them, you can go around to businesses and ask them if they want to sponsor the giveaway by donating items, advertising (for newspapers/TV & Radio Stations/Websites), money, promotional materials.

Once again try to run this event in a public place on the 4th as you are more likely to get more participation then running it at your church. And once again mention that church is running it but don’t make that the main point. The main point is that you are wanting to honor service members and you shouldn’t care who gets the glory.

If you have good relations within the community then you would be suprised at the amount of support you can get. Every business want to be associated with honoring the military esspescially on the fouth of July, it is just good advertising for them. and great community service by you.

With the 4th of July coming up I thought I would put out four ideas for churches looking to celebrate.

#1 Honor the Vets

Now when I say honor the vets, I don’t mean ask anyone who has served to stand up on Sunday morning. That is uncomfortable and not really doing anything to honor them. If you really want to honor the vets go to a local VA home or hospital. Visit with some of the vets, take some stuff to give away to them. Show them that you are thankful for thier service.

If you really are thankful for what they have done, go back more than just Memorial Day, the 4th, and Veterans Day.

These guys and gals have sacrificed for this country so we cn have the right to even have church. Lets be the church to them and honor them by serving them.

Read #5 - #3 here, and #2 here

#1 Trust Him

This is the biggest thing that I am learning. I think it will always be the toughest thing to learn, and I have a feeling that it will be a lifelong lesson in trust. No matter what change will always be going on. There will always be issues to deal with. I will always have kids to worry about. Because of this I will always have a need to trust God.

I will always need to trust His plans. I will always need to trust His Love. I will always need to trust His protection. In short I will always need to trust Him.

So knowing this why is it so hard for me to do? I wish I knew, but then again if I knew I wouldn’t need to trust His power in my life. If I knew I would probably presume that I could trust Him on my own. Man, I need His help to even be able to trust Him.

I guess it’s just one of those things. I am learning more and more to give up, because in giving up I leave it to Him. That is the only way I can get by in this life. I spent a few years of my life trying to do it on my own and it didn’t work. The only way to survive this life and thrive for Him is to stop trying and trust His Word, His Will, and His Love.