The Source Ministries: Blog

Expecting something great

2009-06-11T00:32:22Z

As Jason and I are about to have our first baby we have been planning everything in our life out to a T. Every day when I leave for work, we have a plan about what we will do if I go into labor while I am at work. Included in the plan are how I will get to the hospital, where Jason will meet me, who will pack and bring our things that we need to the hospital and most importantly, where we will stop along the way for me to get food.

We aren’t typically this organized. In fact before we were pregnant you could walk into our house at any time and find bills and papers lying everywhere. We make plans last minute and play everything by ear. We just hang out and go with the flow, but there is something about this new little person coming into this world that makes us want to plan ahead so that we don’t miss anything.

I was thinking today about how our relationship with the Lord is very similar. Many times we go through life with no plan, no structure, and no organization because we aren’t really expecting anything great to happen. We would love it if God visited us but we really aren’t expecting Him to.

As the summer quickly approaches, I would encourage you in two areas. Number one, expect God to do something great in your life. Expect to know Him more, to hear Him more and to be used by Him more. And number two, plan for your expectation. If you want God to do something great in your life, plan for that. Read your word, pray, repent for areas of sin, make sure you get to summer camp and be ready when God comes to visit and change you this summer.

Jason and I have been expecting this little baby boy to come for 10 months and have gotten everything done so that we are ready for when he comes. I challenge you to expect God to do something great in your life this summer and then prepare for Him to come and visit you.

LOVE in NY

2009-05-04T15:53:11Z

Day 3 in New York was undoubtedly our best day of the week. Today I along with a team of 20 of our LI students rode on buses to pick up inner city children for ministry in Brooklyn New York. And I must say while I don’t consider myself to be naïve to the needs of people worldwide I must say I witnessed a face of poverty in this nation like I have never seen before. Perhaps it’s simply because of the ownership I have as an American but this poverty seemed different than what I have been exposed to in a number of 3rd world countries. I saw children at ages 5 and 6 years old who have witnessed circumstances in there life most of us won’t see in a lifetime. And a vast number of values that I have downloaded in my heart came to memory: that what we do unto the least of these we do unto Jesus Himself, that we may be the only Jesus that others see, that love is not lingual rather univeral through the heart and that it doesn’t take that much for others to know you care.

The Bible reminds us that our lives, regardless of how great or full they may seem, apart from love are meaningless. That our words, regardless of how articulate or eloquent, without love emulate that of a crashing symbol or instrument off key. Jesus when challeneged by the religous leaders as to what the greatest commandment was, responded back quickly and swiftly ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and love your neighbor as yourself’. That the entirety of the Gospel could be summarized simplistically through these 2 entities - loving God, loving people! Determine today…above all that you will love God and love people and take peace that you are fulfilling the call of God to all of humanity!

Inviting vs making disciples

2009-02-24T20:05:16Z

Today I am thinking about Mark 28:19. It says “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father…” What strikes me as I am pondering this scripture for the millionth time is that He tells us to MAKE disciples. So many times as Christians we try to find disciples. We invite someone from work or school to church and if they don’t fit into our church “mold” then we go try to find one who will. But we are missing the point. Non Christians don’t fit into our Christian box. Many times they are uncouth, unreligious and unconventional. But that’s ok.

In Matthew 4:18-19 Jesus says to his future disciples “Come and follow me. And I will make you fishers of men.” They didn’t have to do anything to come. Jesus didn’t ask them to change clothes, cut their hair or change the way they talked he simply called them as they were that moment.

Making a disciple, like making anything great, takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight, it doesn’t happen because you brought them to an illustrated sermon one night, and it doesn’t happen because you handed them a touch card at school one day. It is a long process that takes time and energy. You have to keep reaching out to “The One” over and over and over until they become who God wants them to be. Think back to who reached out to you and discipled you, someone who didn’t let you go just because you didn’t want to come to church anymore. They didn’t give up on you. Now is your chance to be that for someone else. They desperately need you, even if they don’t know it. Don’t let go of them.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS

2009-02-18T19:14:33Z

Last week was amazing…over 500 young people and 55 salvations!!! Glory to God…But I challenge and urge you to start developing a mind set where what we witnessed last week is merely the norm. In Acts 2:47 we see that “…the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Salvations were the norm. Daily, weekly and monthly we should be an avid participant to bringing growth not only to the church but also the kingdom. Jesus last words before leaving this planet were short simple and to the point… “Go into all the world…” And if each and every one of us would determine to center our lives around this mandate then explosive expansive growth to the church would be the norm!!!

I have it in my spirit to add a 2nd Wed night service each week in the near future. From there an off site service at a campus. The Holy Spirit has conceived in my heart a vision to reach 1000 young people a week…Last week between Wed night and Sunday 180 we reached 600…And this is merely evidence that an unbridled passion coupled with a unified vision results in what we called impossible coming to pass. I know some may ask is it all about Numbers. Of course it is!!! What you may ask? It’s all about Numbers…not merely for Numbers sake…but for Souls sake. Because every number we add to the church and ultimately the kingdom is a soul snatched out from the caverns of hell and planted into the kingdom of heaven. And last time I checked that is the sole purpose of our lives…So let’s make it our purpose and intention to occupy heaven and vacate hell in 2009. Together we will bring heaven to earth and make it difficult for those who are lost in our city to go to hell!!!