The Scriptures speak in Isaiah 54:2 of lengthening our cords and strengthening our stakes (NIV). There is a leadership application here for us to experience. Some of us are created to be lengtheners and some of us are born strengtheners. Lengtheners are often visionary leaders who want to see their influence and their teams grow [...]
A few years ago a Catholic church in England gave money to finance a youth pastor in a Pentecostal church in their city who needed a youth pastor. The kingdom of God was more important to them than their own local church. We are instructed in Matthew 6:33 to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you.” Rick Warren has said it so well: “It is not about us.” It is all about Jesus our king, and His kingdom. Here is the question we must ask ourselves on a regular basis. “Are we building our kingdom or God’s kingdom?”
I have a dream. This is a dream that I share with millions of God’s people in the nations of the world—that our God would visit His people in our generation, both young and old together, in a way that we will experience His power and presence in our families, our churches, our communities and [...]
Dwight L. Moody, the world renowned evangelist from the latter part of the nineteenth century, once said two and a half persons were converted to Christ at one of his meetings. A friend asked if he meant two adults and a child. The fact was just the opposite—two children and an adult—because a whole life is saved when a child is led to Christ. Do you know the following statistics?...
A farmer in Thailand will plant a bamboo seedling and will not see any growth for the first year. He will patiently continue to water and tend the seedling for the next three years. Then suddenly, in the fifth year, the bamboo tree will begin to grow. In fact, it will develop so rapidly that it will shoot up to two-and-one-half feet each day for six weeks until it reaches some ninety feet in height! Although he could not see it with the human eye, the past four years the tree was developing an underground root system, many miles long, beneath the surface. It now has a foundation established to provide for the significant growth that would eventually occur. 2012 is a year for you to experience God-given dreams and visions you received years ago...
2011 was a hard year for many of us. I met many in our nation and beyond who walked through deep waters this year. Some felt stuck; unable to move ahead. They had a vision for their future, but changes in the economy and unmet expectations caused them to feel trapped and confused. Recently I [...]
I read a fascinating story about TV anchorman, Tom Brokaw. Brokaw was wandering through Bloomingdale’s department store in New York City one day, shortly after he was promoted to co-host on the Today Show. The Today Show was a pinnacle for Brokaw after years of work, first in Omaha, then for NBC in Los Angeles [...]
2012 is right around the corner: a brand new year with brand new opportunities and brand new possibilities. Now is the perfect time to take a good look inside and ask: What is it that I do or would love to do that energizes me the most? What is my God-given dream?...
“I have met two classes of Christians: the proud who imagine they are humble, and the humble who are afraid they are proud. There should be another class: the self-forgetful who leave the whole thing in the hands of Christ, and refuse to waste any time trying to make themselves good. They will reach the goal far ahead of the rest.” This quote by A.W. Tozer still rings true today...
Change is hard for most of us. We are naturally resistant to it. But we must constantly be ready to embrace change when it comes. Human nature has always resisted change. For example, read the following letter written January 31, 1829 by Martin Van Buren, then governor of New York, to President Jackson, concerning an “evil” new business enterprise threatening our nation...