We just finished up a three-week series on money at our church. We dealt with topics such as stewardship, tithing, giving, and generosity, sowing and reaping and of course the Gospel. It is so easy to preach the Gospel in a series on giving because we are never more like God than when we give. A well known verse in John 3:16 clearly depicts God as the greatest giver of all time, “for God so loved the world that he GAVE His only son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life,” (emphasis mine). If my giving is supposed to be in response to that gift, and it is, then there is plenty of room for me to grow and mature in this area.

As I sit here in my office reading through our response cards, which I normally do every Monday, I am reminded how desperate we all are to be taught by the Word of God. We need the instruction of the Word, but after we hear it we must obey it or it becomes like white noise in our hearts and minds. Eventually we will tune out and not even hear God speaking to our hearts through any means, which is a place I never want to be.

I am praying for people today who are asking and believing for “seed to sow.” 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 gives us confidence to trust God for His provision for us to even be able to give. It says, “10He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way…” And while this “giving” does not apply only to money it does include our money.

I keep reminding myself and I will remind you, give until you love it. Don’t just say you’ll “try to give,” either decide to be a generous giver or not. You really don’t “try” things you want to do, you either do them or you don’t. So when (or if) you make the decision to be full of generosity with everything that you have then do it with conviction and confidence.

Also, do it with hilarity. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says that God loves a cheerful giver and that pretty much means “with hilarity.” I hope that you will find the ability to love what God wants you to love. He wants you to love Him with all your heart. The more you love Him the more you will become like Him and the more you will give.

Now that the fervor and excitement has begun to wane from Easter, what do our churches look like? I know Easter is an exciting time in the church and it should be. We, as believers, get to corporately celebrate the resurrection power of Jesus Christ that is available to us today (Romans 8:11). It is also the quintessential celebration of the Gospel and the power of the Gospel for all who would believe in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Jesus’ resurrection is what separates Him from all others and it is what gives us hope, so we celebrate that truth wholeheartedly.

But why is it historically that the most well attended Sunday service in America is typically followed by the biggest drop in attendance the following week? Unfortunately many people will come to church on this incredible celebration day and not return until the same time next year, if ever. It is a religious check list, when once completed, life goes on and the church is not included.  But why is that?  Is the Gospel not powerful enough for those people? Is the Good News, not all that good to them? And though there are some good theological reasons why this may be, let me just state for the sake of this blog post, it could be that in some cases there is a hole in our Gospel.

The reality is that the Gospel is the greatest news ever, for all of mankind. However, the church can tend to be complacent and live as if we are just here to “survive.”  If we don’t offer a compelling, action oriented, heroic faith, we sell the Gospel short and we set ourselves up for spiritual laziness.

It also does not clearly communicate what an awesome privilege it is to be a part of the church and what an adventurous mission we have to fulfill. Dallas Willard once said, “The greatest danger to the Christian church today is that of pitching its message too low.”  We are not to be “spiritual retreats,” we are supposed to be the salt of the earth.

So since there is no hole in the Biblical Gospel the problem has to be us, those in the church.  But one of the things that I am most excited about is that I see us repairing and filling that hole as a group of churches in Every Nation and as a local church at In Focus. We are not only to love God, but we are to love our neighbors.  We are to do our part in demonstrating God’s love to a hurting world. I believe that we are doing that now, more than ever, but we can still do more.

Paul Harvey once said that “we have drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium.” But that is not what we are about and that is not what the Gospel is about. We are to take the Gospel into all the nations and make disciples who will obey all that God has commanded.

It is simple, but the whole Gospel is clear, love God, love people, reach the world and teach others to do the same. That is what we are all about.

In Latvia again for a worship conference.  The first time I came to Latvia it was to help out in leading and teaching during a worship conference just like the one we are about to be a part of this year.

My good friend Viktor Isajevs was administrating and doing the conference back then and still is today. This is my  fourth time here in Jurmala and Riga since 2003 (if I remember correctly). It is neat to see some of the young people that I met 8 years ago who are growing up and serving and worshiping God to this day.

Tonight Kurt Hawthorne (worship leader in Jacksonville, FL) did a great job of teaching on overcoming fear. He is a good friend, and it has been great being a part of this with him thus far.

My dad is with me as well and I appreciate this wonderful opportunity for us to do something like this together.

I’ll check in later as time permits.

I was introduced to the the saying, “vision leaks” quite some time ago. I have subsequently been introduced to the painful reality of that saying numerous times since, in my own life and in the lives of people around me. It is true, that vision leaks, but it does not have to stay out. Vision is the revelation of God’s redemptive plan for your life. In essence, you see your life as God sees your life, and that is a powerful motivator. But the problem is vision leaks.

Take for example helium balloons. When you first get them they are flying high, seemingly tugging at their strings wanting to break free. But as we all know helium balloons will leak. One day they are hugging the ceiling ready to burst out into the sky and the next day they are dragging the floor, moping around at ground level.

Well I liken vision to helium in a balloon and at the beginning of each new year we are all like freshly inflated helium balloons (I envision myself as one of those big Macy Day parade balloons). We are ready to dive into a Bible reading plan, we are committed to getting involved in our local church, we want to be healthier, happier and heartier. Depending on your fortitude and resolve (you could be a Mylar balloon which lasts longer than others) you will keep you commitments and “fly high” for a while. But vision leaks.

Then one day, and you are not quite sure how and when it happened, but instead of flying high, getting up early, spending time in the Word of God, keeping your commitments, etc., you are dragging the floor. “I don’t really feel like getting up and reading.” “I don’t like that church anymore or those people.” “I don’t have to turn into some religious freak!”

What happened to the optimism, hope and momentum you felt just a month ago (or week ago)? Vision leaks. Our ability to see God’s redemptive plan for our lives becomes difficult to “envision” and so we fall back into old habits, bad patterns and generally just mopey, apathetic balloons.

So don’t let it happen. Cultivate a passionate relationship with God and other believers. That is where your encouragement and “refilling” will come from. Then be about the things that God has called you to do, your mission, and you will find yourself constantly being reminded of God’s redemptive plan for your life. So although it may leak, you won’t be totally deflated by February.

Thus far I have been challenged, encouraged, overwhelmed and filled with thankfulness.  Probably other things too, but that is enough for now.  I will have to write more thoughts when I am a bit more coherent, but as of now I have been up since 8:00 this morning (after going to bed at 1:30 a.m.) and we have had a full day of sessions and worship and unbelievable moments at the conference.

The multi-ethnic church family that I am a part of is amazing.  Thus far I have heard from Pastor Grace from Lagos, Nigeria, Pastor Rice Broocks, Efren Penaflorida from the Philippines (CNN Hero of the year), Pastor Yesupadam Paidamula from India and Darlene Zschech from Australia.  You can actually listen to the podcasts of all theses speakers at www.en2010.com website.

That does not even mention the Amazing Grace moment tonight where 50 different languages sang together in glorious [praise unto God.  When all the voices joined in together in their own native languages all at once, it was like a sound I have never heard before (literally). But it was more than that, as I believe it was a sound like heaven, and tears began to stream down my face.

After closing out the night with another 2 songs and jumping around like I was 10 years younger it is time for so sleep though ever so brief.  It is 12 midnight now and we have a sound check at 7:15 a.m.  Couldn’t somebody else say “check one, two three” in the mic for me?