My Epic Journey

I had the great opportunity of having lunch with Adam Purcell, the Family Life Pastor at LifePoint Community Church.  We talked about life and ministry and had a great time, but one thing in particular stood out to me that he had said.

When challenging his leaders in relation to serving students he said there are three things he asks them to do:

1.  Pray

You can’t lead someone spiritually if you haven’t asked the Spirit to guide and help.  Prayer is one of those “must” that rarely ever happens.

2.  Prepare

Be ready to for what might come up with students.  Know what they are going through.  And if you are teaching a lesson, definitely take the necessary time to know and ingest the topic you are discussing.

3.  Pursue

Teens like to know they matter and one of the best ways to do that is to pursue them.  I’m not talking about during church or the EPIC teaching times, but outside of GPCC and EPIC.  Contact them through Facebook, text, or call them.  Meet with them for a shake or a burrito.  Show up at one of their sporting events.  Really, just love them throughout the week.

Thanks Adam, for this great reminder!

I am at the Orange Conference in Atlanta this week.  I am here with our Children’s Pastor, Steve Ogle.  For both of us this is our second time attending.  We have been excited about the conference and after leaving at 6:00 this morning we were especially glad to get to the conference center and checked in.

I will admit though, that after check in, I am very disappointed so far.  There is one thing I always look forward to after check-in and that is the conference bag and notebook.  The bag this year is from Plywood People (www.plywoodpeople.com).  The idea is pretty cool and I like the concept.  Don’t know if I will carry around the bag this week though because it really looks more like a purse than anything.

But what I was disappointed about the most was the notebook.  In the past years the notebook has been a really well put together resource that is suitable to take notes in and to put one my bookshelf at the office.  This year, I feel they tried to cut corners financially (which is odd because the cost of the conference was still expensive) by putting together a “newspaper” look.  No room for taking notes and completely pointless to carry around because it is so big and awkward.

I so hope that the conference from here on out doesn’t have a cheap feel.  Praying that even if it does, God will still give me the fuel to take EPIC to the next great thing He has for us.

Just read this from Tony Morgan at www.tonymorganlive.com.  Very challenging and fitting.  Good read for all leaders.

Several weeks ago I was thinking about how little we talk about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christ-followers. I began to consider how I live out my life, and, I was convicted…which, by the way, is one indication that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives. I thought it might be good to consider the conversation here especially as it relates to leaders in the Church. Based on that, here are…

10 Signs that We Don’t Believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit

1. We are experiencing anxiety and bitterness in our lives rather than joy and kindness. (Galatians 5:22-23)
2. We can’t remember the last time we prayed for the people we lead. (Romans 8:26)
3. The churches we lead aren’t growing and reaching more people. (Acts 9:31)
4. The churches we lead aren’t outreach focused. (Acts 1:8)
5. We think it’s our responsibility to convict people of sin. (John 16:8)
6. We are stuck in sinful patterns rather than pursuing the things of God. (Galations 5:16:17)
7. We think we have the power to change people. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
8. We are more concerned about the rules than we are our freedom in Christ. (Galations 3:2-3)
9. We think we can explain the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)
10. We are creating division and aren’t promoting unity within the Church. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

It might be good to begin the week and this next season of ministry by studying and praying through this list. My prayer is that your life and your ministry would continue to experience its fullest potential in the power of the Holy Spirit.