Are you making opportunities to obey the Spirit and teach the world about who God is?  It’s kind of a big deal if you think about it.  If you’ve been saved by God, that means you were rescued from death–plucked from the fiery pit of Hell and turned from a wicked and sinful monster into a saint.  But Jesus didn’t sacrifice himself to turn you into a decoration (like the statues you see of dead people).  He gave his life so that you could have life, and then he said it’s your turn now!  Go into all the world and save some people!  Don’t waste the precious gift you’ve been given…spread it around.  There’s more than enough to go around.  God doesn’t want anybody to die without him.  If you’ve found God’s grace don’t hide it, divide it!

If you haven’t been saved, that means you’re still dead in your sins.  And you probably already know exactly what I’m talking about.  Your own conscience is probably telling you exactly what it is that is keeping you apart from a relationship with your Creator.  Today is the day of salvation.  Make the choice to leave your sins in the past and to start living for God, and you will find a life more amazing than anything you’ve ever known.  It’s not always easy.  In fact, Jesus guarantees that you’ll face persecution if you live life his way.  But it is so worth it!  To actually live in relationship to God and know his presence in your life outweighs all the troubles you could ever face.  And we haven’t even gotten to Heaven yet.  That’s the icing on the cake of a real relationship with Jesus!  Make the decision to find forgiveness and turn your life around and live by the awesome power of the Holy Spirit.  You won’t be disappointed!

PS. Thank you to NASA for a great title. 🙂

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:31 — 20.4MB)

It’s been a year since the last presidential election. Remember all the commotion and excitement around the race for president? And now people are already upset about the government again. And once again politicians promised change, and delivered a lot of the same, old thing. They’re writing checks that the country can’t cash, quibbling over partisan nonsense, and ignoring all the things they said during their campaigns. Yet, every time there’s another race people get excited again. It’s like they think there’s going to be some amazing difference this time. But the truth is that real changes come when the American people stand up and take responsibility for their own nation. The government is not only supposed to work for us–it’s supposed to be us. And if we really want to see change, it’s going to mean changing ourselves and forcing our political leaders to do what we tell them to do or get out of the way and let us do it ourselves.
Anyway, this is a short talk I gave during the last presidential campaign. Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:31 — 16.7MB)

Did you ever wish you had super powers?  Did you ever imagine what it would be like to fly or bend steel with your bare hands or shoot lasers from your eyes?  If you could pick any one power, what would it be?  I think superheroes are cool.  I like Superman, the Incredible Hulk, the X-men, and just about all the rest.  And it’s been great to see technology get to the point where artists can make the amazing things they do on the movie screen look so real.  Big action movies like those where the good guys fight to save the world against evil are the best things to see at the theater!

So what if you could really be a superhero?  What would you do with your powers?  Would you use them for good or for evil—to save others or to serve yourself?  What if you really could have super powers?  What if you really did have a special ability written into your DNA or your spiritual make up?  What if you were meant to be the hero fighting to save the world from evil?

Well, maybe—just maybe, you are.  Listen to this and think about that idea:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:38 — 13.6MB)

It’s not an Ordinary Nation.

The word ordain comes from the word order.  That’s what it means.  It can be like an order that a boss gives a worker or like putting things in alphabetical order.  When a church ordains a pastor.  They do a little of both.  That’s what happened to me.  My church made me a part of the leadership team along with other elders and deacons.  With a team committed to serving God with wisdom and humility the things that get done and the decisions that get made will be done with order and not disorder.  I also got orders from my Boss to step into this role and to serve the people of God’s church.  So I’m taking my orders to teach and to serve.  This talk is just a response to being assigned this new role.

But a pastor is just 1 role in the church.  Everybody in the church is supposed to be using their gifts to serve God as a team.  So what does it mean to serve God?  And how should we look at our own role as part of this team?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:13 — 7.4MB)

Have you ever felt passion for something?  Do you feel a drive for anything in life?  What sets you on fire?  What really motivates you?  There are all sorts of things that we’re told we have to do out of responsibility…pay your taxes, vote, mow your lawn, obey the Golden Rule, go to church on Sundays.  But when it comes to religious stuff and all the things we are called to do as Christians, what God really wants is passion.  He wants to use the energy and drive that you have naturally and use your passion to accomplish great things!  He wants to give us all a mission from God that will set our hearts on fire.

This talk focuses a lot on youth and seeing kids and young people as an important and valuable part of the church.  Young people aren’t the future, they are part of the present, and we should treat them as such.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:25 — 19.4MB)

Have you ever been asked to do something crazy?  I know people who do wild fun things just for the adrenaline rush.  But have you ever been in a situation where you really had to decide to stretch beyond your comfort zone for a bigger purpose?  It can be a tough decision to make.  This talk is about just that kind of dilemma.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:58 — 22.9MB)

This is a little clip that talks about a couple analogies for what spiritual life and living as part of the church ought to be like.  I always like word pictures that help explain complex concepts in down-to-earth ways.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:16 — 3.3MB)