transmitter

Thinking today about how we are a transmitter for Christ and His love. The source of the signal (Christ) is incredibly strong. The issue comes down to how well I'm connected to the source and then how clear I relay it back out. So it really comes down to me. Am I in a place to hear and receive from God and then how much will that continue to look like Jesus after it goes through my filter. Too many times, what we are transmitting does not look like Jesus b/c it has been tainted by us.
What are you transmitting?

a plan

We are now working on setting up some tracks to train, equip, launch and resource church plants and planters. Our heart is to create a plan with steps that are easy, obvious and intentional. This is much harder than it looks, but incredibly necessary in order to make a substantial difference. We are now creating the paths that I pray will soon become an 8 lane super highway from which we will launch new church plants. Jesus may it be!

Christ

It's amazing when you look at current events as well as history and notice certain consistencies. When a nation is built upon God as the foundation, it flourishes, is blessed and the people enjoy freedom. When it's built on any other false god or way of thinking, the country lives in oppression, violence and unrest. It's tough to watch our great country which is founded on God, slip farther and farther away from our roots, which is Christ. As Christians, we must do our part to be salt and light through the love of Christ.

prayer

You can tell a lot about a person by what they pray. You can decipher how big or small they believe God is. Or how about how they view themselves in relationship with God. Many of us are praying very small and weak prayers and we are praying them to the God who created the universe. This is GOD we are talking about! Nothing is impossible for HIM. Why don't we really believe that? If we did, wouldn't we pray more and differently? I want to pray big prayers that only God can answer!

mule

Mule - the sterile offspring of a female horse and a male donkey, valued as a work animal, having strong muscles, a body shaped like a horse, and donkeylike long ears, small feet, and sure-footedness.
- The mule is a great worker and has some great attributes, the only problem is, it can never reproduce. The scientific reason is because the odd number of chromosomes. The point I want to make today is this, how many of our churches and believers are like the mule. We look good, we work hard and even accomplish some good things, but we are sterile. We aren's seeing people come to Jesus Christ! As I read the book of Acts, the power of God moved through the "average" believers, who were anything but average. It was normal to continually "live Jesus" and to to share Him with the world. Are you spiritually sterile?

accelerated

It's amazing how much spiritual growth I saw in our people on our 7 day missions trip. People were blossoming spiritually right before our eyes. For many, they came out of their shell, while for others they uncovered new gifts. Love was flowing out of people like never before. It seems to me that for many on the trip, they grew as much spiritually in a week, as most people do in a year. I firmly believe that every believer needs to go on a short term missions trip! It will change your life.

unBELIZEABLE

WOW! We had an amazing trip. We had hundreds of kids and on the bigger nights had close to a thousand adults come to the services. Our ladies connected in a huge way with the woman of Belize in the morning Bible studies as well our nurses administering health and information. Our band blew it up, as they had never heard nothing like what we played. On one the big days we had 4 inflatables, snow-cones, popcorn and pop. They had never seen anything like this in the history of their small village. We held the entire weeks events at the Christian School and had the blessing of 6 Pastors and their churches. God brought some incredible unity and we were blessed to be a part of it. God did some amazing things in us and in the the lives of our Belizian friends.

Belize

Tomorrow morning bright and early, 42 C3'ers will jump on a plane to head to Belize to do missions work. We will do some medical stuff with our nurses as well as ministry by doing a huge week long crusade with everything from kids to woman's to mens to youth ministry. At night our band will play and I will preach. We are praying for God to move in power. Please pray with us for God to move in a huge way. I'll try to jump online if possible for updates.

promises and trials

"God's promises are tested by trials."
If you don't believe that to be true, then try to live one out. For one, the enemy will do all that he can to keep us from living out the truth. Secondly, God's promises are activated when we step out in faith. Faith is needed in order to get through trials and still hold on to the promises of God.

WWJD

Yesterday, I had the privilege of having coffee with the originator of the WWJD bracelet. She is an amazing lady and minister who lives in Dublin and holds the patent. It was birthed out of a heart to point people to Jesus. As I began to think about it, it really is amazing how an individuals idea could literally become a household slogan. It's staggering to think about all the thoughts that were turned toward Christ because of a simple idea. Talk about influence! I have begun praying for God to give me greater influence, that I may use it to point people to Him.

abundance

God is a God of abundance and has set forth Truth's and principles in spiritual life as well as in nature. An example would be, "you reap what you sow." In other words, if you give, it will be given back to you with increase.
I have found that it is easy for me to give when I have excess, but what about when I just have enough or am in need? This is where faith comes in and this is where God may test us. We must realize that God is a God of abundance and that He looks for those who will be a channel through which He can give through. The problem is that for most of us, we hoard everything we get our hands on. Or we live as if there isn't enough to go around or to be generous. When this happens, we live selfishly and take God out of the equation.

bucket list

What do you want to experience on this Earth before you die? Why not make it happen? We are blessed to live in a country where almost anything is possible. I started my bucket list when I was 21. We called it the "summer of the bear" after the movie "Legends of the Fall." That summer, my best friend and I lived homeless, jumped out of an airplane, traveled on a sponsored paintball team and jumped out of a moving car off a bridge (do not try this at home) and truly made some memories. My goal now is to scratch off 1 goal per year from my current bucket list. All this to say, I believed part of who we are is because of our past experiences. Why not be intentional about putting ourselves in experiences that have the potential to break our fears and enjoy this life that God has given us to the fullest? What's on your bucket list?

Kennebunkport Maine

Today, my Keri and I are in Kennebunkport Maine. I'm doing a midweek wedding for a couple friends and fellow C3'ers. They have truly blessed us by having my wife come with me. It is beautiful up here. The sun is shining and it's a cool 70 + degrees. I've already had some fish and shrimp. I went for a run this morning and ran by former President Bush's summer home. I'm so grateful for this experience. Personally, I want to live my life enjoying every moment and experience that God allows me to have.