September 2011
10 posts
Get ahead of the rest...
I just arrived from my trip to Myanmar. Thanks for all who prayed. I will be posting some pictures and video clips in the coming days.
Getting ready now for the weekend at The Compass as we kick off the series ”Hoarding: Less Is More.” I hope you will join me. Since you are reading this blog, you can get ahead of the rest by reading Genesis 11-13. We will be talking about Lot for the...
I had dinner last night at Pastor J’s home with his wife and 10 children. Eight are adopted and they range in age from 16 down to two years.
After a wonderful meal, the children lined up and quoted Psalm One from memory. It was loud and strong and then they sang a song for me. I was humbled and blessed to see this pastor and his wife living so sacrificially.
In a few days I leave for the...
Commitment and Sacrifice...
How far would you travel?
One of the pastors in the group I am now teaching walked for two days, then rode a bus for another day, just to come to this training. He is well into his sixties and has a passion to be faithful to the Lord and His work.
I am humbled by the level of commitment and sacrifice I see in the Christians of Myanmar. Please pray for the training to continue to be effective. ...
The Twenty-Six...
I just finished training my first group of church planters. Together they committed to reaching 5000 people for Christ in the next five years.
They also are open to forming an alliance among their respective churches to do this together. Our Southeast Asia partner will be coordinating with them to provide further training. The pastors I trained had never received any teaching on why the church...
Being strategic...
I have 26 Christian leaders in my first training group. They are mostly young men who have a passion to bring the good news of God’s love through Jesus to their nation of Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Let me tell you about one of the men whom I will call J. J is planting a church, but also has adopted 8 children besides his own 2 kids. Why did he adopt so many? I asked. He said because...
God's timing...
Whew! I beat the typhoon coming up on Japan!
I had to fly through Narita (Tokyo) last night, and today the typhoon is expected to come near or over Japan. Already God’s timing is at work. I begin teaching upon arrival at my destination this afternoon. If I can get to the Internet I will post. If not, I trust you will remember the pastors and Christian leaders. Dale
Your prayers...
So far so good. I am on my way to a third world country where Christian leaders are persecuted regularly. Please pray that our meetings go uninterrupted and that spiritual breakthroughs take place. Please pray for good health, discernment and the power and demonstration of God’s Spirit in the teaching and preaching.
P.S. Have you signed up to be in a Sermon Based Life Group yet?
Dale
Back to Church Sunday
Did you know that this past Sunday was National Back to Church Sunday?
It was supposed to be the day that we all invited people to come back to church. For whatever reason, this past Sunday is always one of our lowest attended weekends! Go figure! The truth is, we ought to be constantly praying for and inviting others to join us on the weekends if we really believe our community has...
Stay the Course!
Got up early, ran this morning, and used the time to talk with God. During our conversation, I realized that life is a constant battle, a gauntlet of temptations and tests that come at you every day. Some days you just want to quit and give in rather than press on and finish the race. It’s hard to keep running when it feels like it’s all uphill or you’re presented with so many shortcuts....
Ministry of Forgiveness
I have found Mark Driscoll’s “Ten Things Forgiveness Is Not” to be very helpful in understanding the ministry of forgiveness. I hope you will too:
1. Forgiveness is not approving or diminishing sin.
It’s not saying, “Well, it’s okay. Nobody’s perfect. Everybody makes a mistake,” or, “It’s not a really big deal. Worse things have happened.” No, it is a big deal! It’s so big...
