Praying For Our Church Leaders

When was the last time you prayed for your pastor, worship leader, childrens pastor, student pastor, leadership team member...?

Are you 'at odds' with a member of your leadership in your church? "How can I pray for them when...They've hurt me so I can't pray for them because..." How often have you even thought that, let alone DID it?

Let's be honest - there are times when we just don't feel like praying for our church leaders. And the only reason is because WE can't get over something. They don't know how we feel unless we tell them...they don't know they've 'wronged us' unless we say something...they can't read minds!

If you/we harbor bitterness, strife, anxiety, frustration in our hearts and DON'T confess it to God, our prayers are like Port-a-Johns - they're full of it!

I don't think God will hear prayers when our hearts are bitter. Until we give it to Him and then go to the person, we are 'full of it' and our prayers are like dung!

So, have you prayed today? Have you confessed and repented where need be?

Hey, if my life's gonna be a mess I at least should challenge others to join me on the journey, right?

Praying WITH you for our churches and leaders!

Where Will You Lead From?

We've all had those days where we wonder if we are leading from the right place, let alone leading at all!

It seems things don't 'fit' like they should. We speak - but no one seems to be listening. We go - but no one seems to be following. We do - but it feels like we're doing it alone.

It hit me this week as I returned home to my parents place for the first time since my dad passed away in January of this year - if I'm leading how God has called me to lead, and I'm following His Word for my direction, then all of that stuff I just spewed shouldn't matter!

As a leader, we simply need to lead with integrity, passion, conviction, purpose and A WHOLE LOT OF JESUS! I watched my dad lead this way. He was an expert at removing the 'emotion' of the situation, focusing on the actual need, proposing possible solutions and then moving folks to come to an agreement. In ALL of it, He was constantly listening for God, seeking wisdom from His Word and surrounding himself with people of integrity, character and wisdom. THAT'S where he led from.

There's a bit of chaos in my life right now and my nature is to get after it, fix it, put it in order and move on. But, I've been listening to my dad in my heart. I've begun to understand more of the life he lived and modeled for us boys, and later for our families. It was leading from a place of reflection, gathering, processing and then action. He never really 'reacted'. He was always prepared for whatever came, because he spent so much time with God getting to know Him and live for Him. THAT is the place I want to lead from. THAT is the heart I desire to have.

I want to make my dad proud - no surprise there. But I want to honor my Father in Heaven more.

Where do you lead from?

Weekend Recap

WOW! What an incredible weekend here at FBC and in our community.
Because the holiday was on Sunday this year, we moved our services to Saturday evening and had one energetic and challenging service!
On top of that, we had the joy of introducing our interim pastor, Bob McQuaid and his wife, Bobbie. They joined us last week and will be here until we can find our next Senior Pastor. Great people who love God and want to see God's church be what He intended it to be. They are, to quote him from Saturday, "Pumped Up" to be here.

Service on Saturday was full of challenges from Joshua 24 on how to truly live a devoted life. Lots of great feedback. Had some really helpful feedback from a divorcee that will help to shape my 'frustrations' with things in the future. Thank you!

Then we had the joy of serving our community on Sunday in the 4th of July parade and hang out at the park with the community. Here's a quick rundown:

• Had over 120 volunteers show up to paint faces, serve hot dogs, man the fun jump and hand out water as folks gathered for the parade.
• Even though the crowd was thinner than usual, the energy and excitement was WAY HIGH!
• Loved the look on people's faces as the float with the praise team rolled up and they saw it was from a CHURCH! Folks pointed at our signs, smiled and started clapping and dancing to the music. It was fun to watch their reaction!
• Found out from the hot dog team we served over 800 dogs! That's equal to what was serve last year with a bigger crowd. Hmmmmm.
• It was easy to spot our volunteers this year as they all sported the new VOLUNTEER shirt. Kind of hard to miss in the crowd.
• Our interim pastor and his wife, Bob and Bobbie, jumped right into the fray and served. They were having a blast!
• MANY of our volunteers this year were first timers. Love this group!

What does God have next for us? Where will he lead us to serve? The BEST way to find out is to make sure you're HERE EACH WEEK!

This weekend will be Bob's first weekend in the pulpit, so DON'T MISS IT!