Hey Friends,

As spiritual leaders we read the Bible often, or at least I hope we do. I find myself wondering and wanting more of what I read, don’t you? I read Acts and long for the power of Pentecost and the miracles of the apostles. But do I want to do what they did to get what they got?

Do I want the power of Pentecost, but what about the prayer of Pentecost? Ten days in the upper room before the Spirit of God fell… I haven’t been in many prayer meetings like that, have you? We want God to move like in days of old, but to do the things of old, are we too busy? Will our activity accomplish more today without the prayer and fasting? We know the answer, don’t we?

Easter season is almost on us. At Faith Promise it is a huge outreach season for us. We will have Sacred Storm on Thursday through Sunday, March 25-28, then celebrate Easter on Friday through Sunday, April 2-4. We will have about 12,000 people for those two weekends. But what will happen that will last forever? What miracles can we expect?

Do we pray for the dramas and messages and music to be ready? Is it for the people to equal out at 1,000 in each service? Or do we pray for a harvest of souls that only God can accomplish?

The worship team is seeking God like never before. They have called for a 21-day fast. I have called the entire church for a 7-day fast leading up to Sacred Storm. You can choose when to start, but let’s seek the Lord for a powerful move of the Holy Spirit.

Pray that God will save over a thousand between the two weekends! How’s that for Pentecostal power? Together we can see the Lord move.

What are you expecting the Lord to do?

Just a question…

Pastor Chris

Hey Friends,

Yesterday we talked about full surrender to the Spirit of the living God. Let me give you some illustrations to the fact. William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. At its inception it was all about evangelism. Booth had enormous success in his pursuit of souls and the Kingdom of God. He was asked the reason for his success:

“Booth remained silent for several moments. Finally, with tear-filled eyes, he said, ”There have been men with greater brains or opportunities than I, but I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there was.’”

“Several years later when General Booth’s daughter heard about her father’s comment regarding his full surrender to God, she said, “That wasn’t really his secret – his secret was that he never took it back.’”

Jim Cymbala wrote about surrender: “I discovered an astonishing truth; God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him. The first step in any spiritual awakening is demolition. We cannot make headway in seeking God without first tearing down the accumulated junk in our souls. Rationalizing has to cease. We have to start seeing the sinful debris we hadn’t noticed before, which is what holds back the blessings of God. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit and quenches His power among us.”

We must cry out to God in total desperation. We can do nothing but He can do all things. Let us humble ourselves in prayer and fasting. Let us seek Him with all of our heart. He is the answer and He is what we must seek first.

What are you depending on? Who are you trusting? How are you seeking God? He really is attracted to weakness – it is a theme that runs throughout the Word.

Love Ya,

Pastor Chris

Hey Friends,

I have been an avid student of church growth for over 25 years. I actually have a doctorate degree in the field. Who knew? I have watched many transitions in the church in this quarter century. I know many of my contemporaries dislike the new model – I guess that is an understatement! Whether your church is traditional, contemporary or somewhere in between is not the real issue of the day.

Where is the power? Is it in the choir? Pulpit? Programming? What about the moving lights and the hazers? How about the new music? Maybe it is in drama, video, or even creativity. NONE of the above is the answer. The power is still where it always has been – with God and His Spirit among us!

I have watched and been in the middle of worship wars, stylistic skirmishes, decibel debates, Sunday School verses Cells, and programming pounding. It really doesn’t matter in the end; the major issue is the power of God to change a life. We all want the same thing and yet we argue over style. It’s sad that saints are that easily taken out of the game. We must wake up and smell the coffee, or lose the war altogether.

Creativity is awesome but it does not change a life. Creativity gets someone’s attention and then the anointing of God is able to move in. The power of God comes on the man or woman of God who gets with God, hears from God, and obeys His leading. Let’s not lose the power of God by fighting the form over function.

The question for every church leader is not, “How do you do it?” but, “Is God in on it?” Is the Word cut loose to do its work? Is the Spirit of God free to convict, encourage, save and deal with hearts? If we are going to fight, let’s fight hell and the devil for souls before it is eternally too late.

So, leader, where is your focus?

Just a thought,

Pastor