So often, I think we waste our time telling people ‘don’t do this’ or ‘don’t do that’ .  What if we spent that time casting vision to them?  What if we spent more time helping people to realize that God’s preferred future is so much better than any temporary pleasure that they could have.

What did you first notice?: You guys get the GOLD MEDAL on customer service. EVERYONE spoke to us from the time we crawled out of the car to the person @ the door to the ladies @ the info table to the folks @ kids check in!!! We were also greeted by a man (with slightly reddish hair) who spoke to us before we entered worship and again as we were leaving. Even though my husband and I left the building separately, this guy made a point to say goodbye to each one of us! STELLAR JOB guys!!!

What did you like best?: All of the friendly people and smiling faces! You guys have created a very friendly and welcoming environment. The other thing that I like best is that my 3 kids WANT to come back and are asking if we are coming back this Sunday. You have no idea what a blessing this is. They have LOTS of reasons to NOT want to be at church.

What was your overall impression?: two thumbs up!!   Keep up the good work guys…

To say I am extremely proud of the team at Freedom is a HUGE understatement!  I love the people that help make Freedom happen each week.  You truly are helping people far from God to experience life in Christ!!

Fifty years ago, I was a first year student at Dallas Theological Seminary. I was scared, unsure of myself, and fresh out of the Marine Corp. I did not know much about seminary.

I remember sitting in chapel, and a minister told me, “When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible person and crushes him.” I am so proud of everything you are dreaming of and doing that I hope that you remember to leave room for the crushing.

10 Things Chuck Swindoll Learned in 50ish Years of Ministry:

1. It’s lonely to lead.Leadership involves tough decisions.
   The tougher the decisions, the lonelier it is.
2. It’s dangerous to succeed.
   It is dangerous to succeed while being young. rarely, does God give leadership that young because it takes crushing and failure first.
3. It’s hardest at home.
   Nobody at home is applauding you. They say, “Dad! You’re fly is open.”
4. It is essential to be real.
   If there is one realm where phoniness is personified it is leadership. What I care about is that you stay real.
5. It is painful to obey.
   There are rewards, yes, but it is painful nevertheless.
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary.
7. My attitude is more important than my actions.
   Some of you are getting hard to be around. And your attitude covers all those great actions you pull off.
8. Integrity eclipses image.
   What you are doing is not a show. And the best things you are doing is not up front but what you do behind the scenes.
9. God’s way is better than my way.
   God is going to have His way.
10. Christ-likeness begins and ends with humility.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 tells us that we must be willing to leave the familiar message without disturbing the Biblical message. We get that backwards. This was written in the first century, and now we are in the 21st century. The message stays the same. Don’t miss the message. As you alter the methods, don’t mess with the message.

Traditionalism is the dead faith of those still living. You will defend those things that don’t need defended.

Three Important Observations:

1. With every ministry a special mercy is needed.
2. In every ministry the same things must be renounced and rejected.
   That is hiding shameful things, doing deceitful things, and corrupting truthful things. Guard against deception. Guard against deception.
3. Through every ministry a unique style should be pursued.
   We don’t preach or promote ourselves (it isn’t about us). We declare Christ Jesus as Lord (it’s all about Him). We see ourselves as bond-servants for Jesus Christ.

Five Statements Worth Remembering During Your Next 50 Years of Leadership:

1. Whatever you do, do more with others and less alone.
   It will help you become accountable.
2. Whenever you do it, emphasize quality not quantity.
3. Wherever you go, do it the same as if you were among those who know you the best.
   It will keep you from exaggerating. it will help keep your stories true. Your good friend will tell you things that others will not. They will hold you close to truth.
4. Whoever may respond to your ministry, keep a level head.
5. However long you lead, keep on dripping with gratitude and grace.
   Stay thankful. Stay gracious.

(This summary created by Kent Shaffer at ChurchRelevance.com)

Our staff has chosen this week to celebrate Pastor J.R. and his family.  They have sacrificed so much to make the vision of Freedom Church a reality.  Words cannot express how much I appreciate what Pastor J.R. and his family have done.  I have grown more and been stretched more in the past 2 years than any other span in my life.  God is using him in a tremendous way to speak life into people.  I am just glad to be part of the team!

(For Executive Pastors:  You need to drive this in your church.  Honor is not a culture that just happens, you must be intentional about it.  Organize it and show your Pastor how much he means to your church.  He needs the encouragement!)

Let’s be honest… we all worry about stuff.  We worry that we are going to run out of money before the end of the month.  We worry that we are going to get a bad report from the doctor.  We worry that we aren’t going to fit in with the people at our job or school.  We worry constantly.

This was a huge encouragement to me today.  Jeremiah 32:27, “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for me?”

I have a relationship with the Creator of the entire universe.  By worrying constantly, I am basically saying that I don’t trust God to handle the situation or I don’t feel that He can.

So, what are you worrying about?  Is anything too hard for God to handle?

After all, He created the universe.  He makes the sun come up every morning.  He even defeated death!

One of the things that I’m being reminded of constantly is that SAME POWER lives in me!  As a follower of Christ, I can handle any situation because of that promise.

Struggling with sin…the same power lives in you!

Big decisions to make…the same power lives in you!

Health issues…the same power lives in you!

Relationship problems…the same power lives in you!

God is trustworthy!  Look to Him, no matter what your current situation is like.  He will bring you through!

A couple of years ago, someone said to me, “you’re just not the same person you were a couple of years ago.”  I’m not 100% sure of what their intentions were in telling me that, but I took it as a compliment.  They were right.  I wasn’t the same. 

I hope that I can look back periodically at my life and declare that I’m not the same person that I once was.  Hopefully, God is working in and through me to make me more like Him. 

My desire for the people of Freedom Church (including myself) is that we are all moving forward in the journey.  As a result, we are becoming a group of people that are more like Christ. 

What about you?  Could someone say that you are a different person than you were 1 year ago?  6 months ago?

*You are the same person Mon-Sat that you are on stage.

*You love God more than you love the church.

*You model what it means to be a great husband and father.

*You truly do desire to see people far from God experience life in Christ.

*You are willing to move forward, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.

*You desire to experience a revolutionary movement of God in our city and bring as many people as possible with you.

Thank you for including me on this incredible, crazy journey called Freedom Church.  I never imagined meeting you and Devin 5 years ago would change my life like it has.  I love your family more than words can express.  You are deserving of way more honor than we could have ever shown you this week.

Romans 7:21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

As I read it, I had 2 thoughts:

a.  That I am glad that I am not the only one that has this issue.  Even Paul struggled with the same things.

b.  That is stinks that this is the way things are.  It is such a battle and a struggle everyday.

Then I continued reading:

Romans 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

Now that gives me hope!!

Today, Pastor Furtick wrote about how to be on offense in our personal lives.  Check it out here!  It’s good stuff.