Coming Clean…

Yesterday I met with a group of men and women who serve as pastors in the Saint John region. It was a gathering of the Greater Saint John City Ministerial.

I was completed captivated as I listened to our guest speaker, Jack Ferguson, of PEI.  Here is a very rough recording of his talk, “We Have to See It Here”.  It is about an hour long. It is conversational and focused on the group that had gathered there. Please take the time to listen to it so that you can catch God’s heart in it and please scan to the end of the audio so that you can witness the prayer that we all prayed together as we came out and came clean before the Lord.

As Jack shared absolutely incredible stories of the blind, deaf and mute people being healed, the dead being raised and thousands giving their lives to Jesus in small, humble villages in Mozambique, my heart was captured.

He spoke it out again and again, “It is about the power of love in action! And we have to see it here.” I agree!!

Jack also hammered away with truth about working with God as He builds the House of the Lord in our region. Our hearts burned as Jack spoke.

But, it is far too easy to sit in on a God appointed meeting and just observe the beauty of what God is doing and then walk away doing nothing about it. So, I want to come out and come clean about this here today. Here is the prayer that I and this group of pastors prayed together on Sept 22, 2011 at All Saints Church in Saint John, New Brunswick:

 Lord Jesus, I thank you for granting me a new opportunity to serve You. I repent of the areas in my heart where I allowed division and self interest to guide my actions. Jesus, I want to see your glory… even to abide as did Moses in Your sacred presence, Master. I consecrate my heart without regard to divisions to your sacred service. Before you I sanctify myself and my church before you to build the House of the Lord in my city. Amen

Making Jesus smile!

What did Jesus really want? If you knew that you could make Jesus shout for joy today, would you be up for it?

You will never find more strength than when you are living to make Jesus smile!

Today you can live like that (We Could Change the World by Matt Redman)

A few days ago a friend suggested that I listen to a talk by Corey Russell called  Show Me Your Glory . It blew me away! Please take the time to go there and listen to what he has to say.

God lights John 17:26 on fire through his teaching and I don’t want you to miss it.

 I have made you[a] known to them, and will continue to

make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them

and that I myself may be in them.” – John 17:26

Jesus prayed this prayer for us. Your life and mine can be a living, breathing answer to the cry of Jesus heart!  Are you up for it?

“and/or” – distracted by one thing

My friend, Mark was preaching in our worship service yesterday morning. I will post a link to the audio for his talk as soon as it is online.

His message was taken from Luke 10:38-42  He zoomed in on vv 41-42:

 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We have nurtured a way of living that smells like “AND”. I will do this and this and this and this… because I can!! But, I really can’t.

There is a flame in you and in me that burns an incense that smells like “OR” and it is a beautiful, intoxicating fragance!! Fan that flame.

I will do this or this, because I can. And, I choose to the same “one thing” that Mary did. Jesus “distracted” her with his intense presence and she allowed herself to be drawn away to Him.

May our “brand” be that we choose day after day to sit at Jesus feet and live with a listening ear to what He is saying as the one thing we are distracted by.

“Perfect”!

Want to see something different today?

Listen for how many times you hear the word “perfect”. I hear it everywhere I go.

When I tell the server at my favorite restaurant what I want they respond, “Perfect”! I hear it when making a coffee date with a friend and we manage to agree on a time and a place.

It’s perfect! It feels good to be in that happy place, doesn’t it?

Perfection…

LOVE is perfection. It changes everything.

Because you instinctively know that love never fails, you can have hope for this day, right?

Don’t forget that! The world is waiting for the love of God to shine through you today no matter what sort of mess you might find yourself in.

“Perfect”!!