Amazing Worship Experience

Let me first start by saying that I absolutely love my church, Northern Hills!  Today was an amazing Sunday morning worship experience.  For me, it was one of a handful of worship experiences I have had in my life where I felt as if the Spirit was physically prompting and prodding me to respond to God in my worship of Him. 

You can CLICK HERE and check out the worship service from Sunday, October 4th.  Scott Hamilton was teaching and my wife, Neva, was leading worship in our main venue, The River.  I’m not sure how you will respond or what God will reveal to you through this worship and message, but here are some of the things that happened to me today:

• during worship I removed my sandals from my feet, something I do somewhat regularly.  I am reminded of Moses and his encounter with God as a burning bush in which he was instructed to remove his sandals as he was standing on holy ground.
• I couldn’t keep my hands in my pockets or at my sides today either.  More so than normal I was compelled to raise my hands as high as I could in complete surrender to God.
• When it came to giving our financial gift to the church I was eager and joyful to do so today…something I haven’t felt in quite some time.
• Scott positioned a wooden cross at the front and center of our stage as the service concluded this morning and we were invited to come and rest at the foot of the cross do business.  It was cool to see people respond and come and pray at the front.  I didn’t expect what happened next.  At one point there were 3 women all praying down front and the Spirit began to speak to me and I can remember my body literally beginning to shake as I felt overwhelmed.  His message: there are 3 of your sisters-in-Christ doing business with God and you need to go and pray protection over them as spiritual warfare is raging all around them.  I moved.  And as I walked down front I began crying and walking faster as my body felt like it wasn’t my own.  As I got down front I just remember praying alound over those 3 women as they were at the foot of the cross dealing with whatever they were dealing with.  As I prayed I literally felt as if there was a shield of protection surrounding them as they prayed…not because of me and what I did, but God’s presence literally providing them a shield.  As the time went I couldn’t help but smile and feel overjoyed as the worship continued.
• As the band played the last few songs I felt as if I sang louder than I have ever worshiped before.  It was amazing!

Me, my son, a flag pole, a public school, amen

A few weeks ago I was explaining to my 8-year-old son about the national event that Christian teenagers participate in every year, See You At The Pole.  His excitement continued to grow as I told him how students gathered together, whether a few or a crowd, to pray for our nation, their schools, reaching their friends with the Gospel of Christ, their teachers, etc. 

His response, “Daddy, we HAVE to do that!”

So this past Wednesday my son and I headed to school 30 minutes early so we could pray at 7am.  I was hopeful that there might be others, but my son goes to a K-8 school so I wasn’t sure if any middle school kids might be there.  As it was, my son Christian and I were the only two there and it didn’t bother him a bit.  We prayed together for his school and that he would have the opportunity to share the Gospel with his friends.  We also asked God to provide him with other Christians at his school who would support him in his quest to reach his campus for Christ.  As we said “Amen!” a friend from our church who is a teacher there showed up and was saddened that she missed our gathering.

That day when I got home Christian shared with me that the teacher saw him later that day in school and took a moment to pray with him in the copy room in the school office.  As a dad, I thought that was totally cool.  Thank You God for providing my son a support system at his school.  May you continue to bless him with boldness and a zeal for the Gospel of your Son Jesus Christ!  Would you grant him success over the next 5 years to reach his campus with Your Good News!

Amen.

A Jesus to get excited about!

• How excited would our teens be to come to Youth Group if this is how we taught Jesus?
• How many churches would be packed every Sunday morning if they understood that this is the God they worship?
• If we shared our faith with this same excitement and zeal how many people would put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ?
• What would the world look like if all believers were this passionate about Jesus?

Top 10 reasons I love working at Dare 2 Share

This was inspired by a similar blog post by Greg Stier.

1. Everyday when I go to work at Dare 2 Share I know that what I do will have an impact on eternity.  I work for Jesus and not for man!
2. The people I work with are not just great co-workers and we’re not just on the “same team.”  We’re family!
3. Greg is bound to do or say something completely random that will make us laugh AT LEAST once a day.
4. What we are doing is making a difference.  More and more teenagers are trainined to share their faith and peer-to-peer evangelism on Middle School and High School campuses is happening.
5. When I travel for Dare 2 Share I meet Youth Leaders who are just as passionate about reaching teens as we are.
6. My boss Debb doesn’t just care about me but is personally invested in me.
7. I am challenged and convicted to keep personal evangelism a priority in my own life.
8. My team of Ministry Advocates cares for the Youth Leaders they work with & for the teens in those Youth Leaders’ ministries AND they get better at what they do everyday.
9. We have chapel every Wednesday for an hour.  How cool is it that we get to pray, worship, and learn together as a ministry?!?!?
10. Two things I have fun doing, Math and Ministry, collide to make my job exciting.  (When my wife Neva worked here she had nicknamed me “Rainman,” and even though she is at home with our two boys Christian & Brayden the nickname has stuck.)

My son the evangelist

I sometimes look for opportunities to share my faith.  It’s something I know I should do, and I enjoy having those conversations and presenting the Gospel, but I certainly don’t do it as often as I should.  I am frequently convicted working at Dare 2 Share just by the nature of what we do.  That conviction amps up most weeks on Wednesday when we have staff chapel and Greg challenges us to share our faith as we have opportunity.  All of those things considered, I am convicted the most by my 8-year-old son Christian when it comes to sharing my faith.

Christian started the 3rd grade last Wednesday at Aurora Quest Academy.  It is his first year not going to a Christian school (3 years of preschool at our church in Virginia and K-2 at Faith Christian Academy).  When he got accepted to Aurora Quest we explained to him some of the differences he might encounter at a public school.  Without hesitation he told my wife and, “It may not be a Christian school now, but when I’m done with it it will be!”  WOW!  How much pride as a father did I feel at that moment? 

So last Thursday, his second day of school, Christian came home and told us all about his day.  He shared that the class was playing a game and several of his new friends were getting upset that they were not winning.  He explained to them that they shouldn’t be ashamed of losing, everything is fine, because we are all winners!  The teacher chimed in and corrected Christian explaining that when they play games, there will be winners and losers.  “But we’re all winners in God’s eyes!” he proclaimed to his class.  The teacher gently informed Christian that they were not talking about God, but about the board game.  He quickly complied and finished playing the game.  As he explained to us what happened though, this is what he said, “Mom and dad, I knew I was right.  I was talking about God.  I didn’t want to argue with my teacher though, but we are all winners in God’s eyes!”

My son made me so proud again.  Not only did he make the preliminary statement that he was going to share Jesus with his school, but on the second day of classes he was already making bold statements about God.  I am also proud of him for respecting his teacher and not arguing with her.  It showed the relational side of his evangelistic effort.  His relentless is evident in the fact that he would make a public statement like that to his whole class and that he plans on looking for more opportunities to do the same.  While he complied with his teacher out of respect, it has not quenched his zealousness of the Gospel!

Please continue to pray for my little 8-year-old evangelist as he Shreds the Gnar on his campus!