Micah 3:11 NLT

For those of you in ministry, or aspiring to be ministers, here are the questions I’ve been chewing on:

1) What are my motives for doing ministry?
2) Why do I serve the way you do?
3) Am I in this for the Lord?
4) Am I merely doing ministry for some kind of vain glory?
5) Has ministry turned into a paycheck for me?
6) Am I really depending on the Lord, or simply claiming to do so?
7) What needs to change in my life so that this verse isn’t true of me?

It reminded me of my call. I was in 9th grade, and God used a camp speaker named Ken Gillming from Springfield, MO to awaken my heart to God’s call. I am eternally grateful. My life has never been the same since.

We didn’t know what to expect, but Tim laid the challenge for our people to respond to God’s call on their life if they sensed it. They responded. 14 people total between our three morning services. We had a time of prayer over them. My heart was moved beyond explanation. Many thoughts ran through my head in those moments… Here’s a few:

1) Why would God ever call me? His grace is so real in my life. I am overwhelmed every day that I — a sinner deserving of no good thing from the Lord — gets to give my life for the cause of the gospel.

2) The missionaries that took the gospel to Kerala, India. I was moved to tears thinking about this. Someone answered God’s call and took the message of the cross to the region where my family is from. Because of that, our destinies were altered forever.

3) The pastors/leaders who responded to the call to ministry and had an investment in my life. Dave & Kathy Vandenbergh and Doug & Becky Williams in New City, NY. Jamie Gillespie, Dave Watkins, and Jeff Miller in Youngstown, OH. Chip Collins, Dave Adams, Jimmy Scroggins, Chad Brand, etc. from Southern Seminary. Russ & Diane Dean in São Paulo, Brazil. I am sure this list could go on. I am so grateful that they responded. My soul has been blessed to know them.

4) Stewardship. We need to be thankful and obedient to God’s voice. This is a privilege, not a right. May my life always glorify The One who called me.

This is an exciting time. We are going to do our best to pour our lives into those who sensed a call. From the middle schooler to the 50 year old man, our hope and desire is to equip and encourage. May the God who called them do marvelous things through these servants who surrendered their lives to the gospel ministry.

We’ve been having a blast here! We had a great day of ministry yesterday and today started off with a bang as we had the privilege of worshiping this morning at Templo Batista Biblica here in Jacarei. Here’s a few shots of yesterday and today.

Sam Cirrincione sharing his testimony with translator Patrick McClure.

Our group singing in Portuguese and English at the favela (slums).

Our team doing the drama called “The Woman”, which is about finding hope and peace in Christ in the midst of a chaotic world.

This drama is called “King of Hearts”, which is about how we all hide beyond masks but Christ helps us realize who we can be in and through a relationship with Him.

I had the great honor of preaching at TBB, the first church I worshiped with in Brazil in 1998.

Our CPC team with some of the staff and members of TBB hanging out after church.

All in all, it has been an incredibly fruitful trip thus far! God has multiplied blessings here. The best highlight so far: our team leading 9 people to Christ last night… IN PORTUGUESE! It was awesome.

Keep praying for us. Hopefully the next update will be by Tuesday.

First of all, the rest of the team is on the way!!! We can’t wait to see them. We’ve done our best to help Russ and Diane Dean prepare for this week. Here is a shot of our team in the airport:

Today was pretty cool here in Brazil. Why? COPO DO MUNDO!!! For those of you who have no idea what that means, we’re talking about what Brazilians live and breathe — the World Cup! Things were crazy here: horns, fireworks, chants and cheers could be heard for miles. It was great to experience a game with the Brazilians. Here is a picture of Erin and April with some of the folks from IBABI (one of the churches we are ministering with this week) cheering on Brazil during the game against Portugal:

We ran some other errands today too. Preparations for food baskets for the impoverished neighborhoods are quite extensive, as well as preparing for 24 Americans who are staying for a week! Also, Diane and Russ took some extra time discussing missions and ministry with the early team. It was absolutely fantastic and very helpful to have their input. All in all it was a good day.

Blessings!

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There is some stuff I just cannot comprehend. Try as I may to get it…it doesn’t make any logical or Scriptural sense. Here is a partial of things I do not understand.

1. Folks that show up to church only a few times a year but expect the pastor to drop everything to provide them with his undivided attention.
2. People that put nothing in the offering plate but still have the stones to expect that their opinions on the church should count.
3. Parents who ground their children from church or the youth group…the very things that could help them with their behavior, future and afterlife.
4. People that expect the pastor to tolerate their political views…but leave the church because of his.
5. The occasional volunteer that expects the church to throw a parade in their honor just because they finally did what the Bible commanded.
6. People that have basked in the grace of God…but fail to give grace to anyone else.
7. Pastors that leave one church for another…for better pay.
8. The need for church growth plans, programs, books, conference, seminars and resource kits…when we already have the Bible
9. Women that tolerate their husbands having multiple affairs…”for the sake of the kids”.
10. Pastors that would rather be political pundits or civil rights leaders…instead of just preaching the life-saving message of the Word of God.
11. People that have one spiritual standard for their pastor…and another for themselves.
12. Folks that think the word ‘disciple’ is a noun…and not a verb.
13. People that make comments about needing to go “deeper” in God’s Word…as if there is a Scripture in the Bible that isn’t deep.
14. Pastors that think accountability means never asking them the tough questions or taking the hard line when it comes to their failure to follow Scripture.
15. Men that think being the head of the household has something to do with the amount of money they are bringing in or the title they acquire at work.”
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Again – I don’t necessarily sign off on all of these. But they made me evaluate some things. What about you?

What resonated with your spirit? What did you disagree with? Did this make you think?

I know it’s a few days late, but Happy New Year to all of you! I pray that it is a fruitful year for you – spiritually, emotionally, athletically, hypothetically, salvifically, and superfluously. Here is a great passage of scripture that I’ve been meditating on, and it is fitting for all of us as we start the year off. It’s the first chapter of the Psalms, and it should be the first chapter of our lives in 2010:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:1-6

May Christ richly dwell in you in 2010… God bless.

Jimmy told his story on the main stage at Catalyst. I sat there and listened to the details of how he lost his family members one by one, many to starvation. His mother found out about Compassion, and eventually, Jimmy was sponsored by a man from Canada. He pulled out a letter from the man and read it to the crowd. He talked about how that letter pointed to Christ and that eventually it was one of the components God used to draw him to salvation. Jimmy was grateful to that man. His simple monthly gift changed Jimmy’s life forever.

Up until this point, Jimmy never met his sponsor. The guys at Catalyst changed all that… The video below is the surprise moment that emotionally and spiritually ROCKED everyone in the auditorium. All of the CPC staff guys were crying like babies – me included.

Why was it so emotional and powerful? Because it pointed to Jesus. It was a picture of heaven. So many people have gone before us and paved the way for our spiritual blessings, and we may never meet them on this side of glory.

This moment was a reminder to me that “I stand on the shoulders of giants”. I am extremely grateful for those giants – both the living and the dead. They’ve made me the man I am today. They were faithful to the gospel and they challenge me to do the same.

Watch the video. You’ll see Jimmy grasp the giant’s shoulders he’s been standing on for years. (Jimmy starts his story at around 3 1/2 minutes into the video)

This year’s Pastor’s Conference had some fresh, new faces that represented the up-and-coming generation of SBC pastors. While I am a Southern Baptist – both in theology and in mission – I have had my concerns with the future of our denomination. But at this year’s annual meeting it became clear to me that God is not sleeping, and He is definitely raising up a new generation of passionate preachers, teachers, and missionaries.

David Platt, the senior pastor at The Church at Brook Hills is one of the leaders of this younger generation of gifted SBC pastors. He is only 30 years old, but he is wise beyond his years and commands attention – even from those twice his age. He was privileged to preach at one of the main sessions at the conference, and he left a profound impact on those in attendance.

What I appreciate about David Platt is his combination of confidence and humility in his preaching. He is convinced of the reliability of the text and not his ability as an orator. Sadly, the opposite is true with many pastors, but that is a different discussion for a different day. Back to the message he preached at the conference…

With the foundation of Hebrews 13:11, he began with a question that struck at the core of every pastor in the room: “Are we going to die in our religion or are we going to die in our devotion?” He then followed with a great explanation of the text and a fantastic charge on missions and evangelism.

I pray that, if you choose to watch this, you will ask that of yourselves as well.

UPDATE 07.10.09
I was requested by SBC Tapes to remove the video of David Platt’s PC sermon. Apparently, they have the copyright privileges to all of the videos from the SBC Annual Meeting. As soon as they have the copyrighted version finished and up on the web, I’ll add a link to the page. It’s worth watching.