I’ve been meaning to write about the real reason for my California trip, but I have been just too busy.

Sorry Ken, the main reason of my trip was to go to a church leadership conference in Redding, California…but getting the chance to meet you was an awesome perk!

Our church, Wellsping Fellowship, is loosely affiliated with Bethel Church in Redding, California. We are part of what is known as Global Legacy, which is Bethel’s way of relating to churches:

Global Legacy (GL) is an apostolic, relational network of revival leaders whose purpose is to bring Heaven to earth (Matt. 6:10). Following the New Testament model for apostleship, GL seeks to establish Kingdom government and to build empowering cultures.

The main purpose of Global Legacy is to equip church leaders to spread revival in their hometowns. One of the biggest way this works is through Leadership Advances. They hold two a year and it is a chance to get to know the staff of Bethel Church and more importantly to touch the amazing culture that they have cultivated in their church. This culture has many aspects but two of the most amazing are Honor and Freedom.

There are many, many amazing leaders at Bethel, but the big three who have had a great impact on our lives and the life of our church are:

Bill and Beni Johnson
Kris and Kathy Vallotton
Danny and Sheri Silk

The last one, Danny and Sheri Silk, have had a huge impact on us due to their teaching on raising children. Hearing them speak at a conference 3 years ago changed our lives. It really did.

Not only do they have great teachers and leaders, but Bethel has been blessed with a tremendous gifting in worship. They have some of the best CD’s out there right now. Very anointed songs.

The conference started Monday night and went through Wednesday night, and boy, do they pack it in. I was as full as a tick by the time the conference ended. Such great teachings and amazing worship.

It felt like all the messages were tailor-made for me. Almost like I was the only guy in the audience. It was just what I needed to hear. Don’t get me wrong, they were very challenging messages. Messages I still haven’t figured out what to do with yet.

On a personal note, I’ve been really going through the wringer over the past few months. We had dinner with a dear friend of ours who challenged us to examine what “roofs” or limits we have placed on God, our lives and the church. At the time, it seemed like a simple word and as such was easily dismissed as “Nope, I’m good”.

I was wrong.

It is almost like her words broke something that needed to be broken. Like the scales have come off my eyes and I do not really like what I see about myself. But, the cool thing is that when the Lord starts pointing things out in your life, it means He knows that not only is it time to deal with it, but that you can do it with His help.

Back to the conference.

The first night Danny Silk gave an amazing teaching on the Five Fold Ministry:

Eph 4:11-12: And He Himself gave some [to be] apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

It was a teaching about how the Church often has conflicting views on the order of things, as given in this scripture. There are aspects of the 5 Fold that we do very well such as teaching and evangelizing, but we often neglect the apostolic and the prophetic roles in the church. It was an amazing teaching.

The other messages given during the conference were equally amazing, but there was one other that really, really, really had an impact on me.

It was a message given by Bethel’s Youth Pastor, Banning Liebscher, called “Pressure Free Ministry”. Wow! It was amazing. The gist of the message is that the Lord will inhabit what He builds. Too often we find ourselves working within our own strengths and giftings to build a ministry that we call the Lords work, but really, it’s just our own work with His name on it. So, if we build it in our own strength, we feel pressure for what we have built to perform. Banning put it this way, if I open a door in my ministry, I have the responsibility to keep it open, thus pressure, but if the Lord opens the door, then He is responsible for either keeping the door open or shutting it. After all, if we are truly building His church, then we really only want the doors open that He wants open. It also keeps us actively engaged with Him to see where He is moving next. Just because a door is open today, doesn’t mean it will be or should be tomorrow. But if we build it and we open the door, then letting that door shut will feel like failure.

Banning also touched on the performance mentality and he really put it back into perspective of who are we co-laboring with. If you are in ministry *cough* Chet *cough*, I highly recommend this message. You can purchase the individual messages as mp3’s if you wish.

The last night, Bill Johnson and the entire leadership team from Bethel laid hands on each and every one of us.

So, I am still working on my crap, but it’s always amazing how the Lord is right there to walk through it with us.

If any Bethel people come to your town, go hear them, you won’t be disappointed.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE: If you’ve ever wanted to know what I sound like, you can listen to my message on our church Pod Cast. BTW, I never knew I talked so fast…and I was trying to talk slow…

Today’s “Notes On A Sunday Sermon” come from none other than your’s truly, WunderKraut. I think it went really well. I managed to avoid saying anything heritical, so I’ve got that going for me. In preparing for my message, I decided to write it out as if I were speaking it. I used this is my note during the message. So no, I didn’t read this word for word. The actual spoken version had more stories and asides which I feel made it a better word.

So, for what ever it’s worth, here are the notes i wrote up, from which I gave today’s message. Also, there may be a recording of the message later this week. If that makes it to the internet, I will let you know. That way it will be just like you were there!!!! And who says I don’t look after my loyal readers.

Today’s message was on Self-Control:
(more…)

I’ve been slow to update this continuing series. Sorry about that. We missed a Sunday because we were out of town and then I was sick another….

Anyway…

Jon gave a two part series on maturing in our Christian walk with a strong emphasis on the importance of having people in your life to hold you accountable.

He gave two familiar scripture references.

The first is in I Corinthians when Paul says:

[1Cr 3:1] – Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ.

[1Cr 3:2] – I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

[1Cr 3:3] – You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

The second is in Hebrews where the writer (I think Paul) says:

[Hbr 5:11] – We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.

[Hbr 5:12] – In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

[Hbr 5:13] – Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

[Hbr 5:14] – But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

A couple of points that Jon made.

The first is that when we are babies, we are in diapers because we soil ourselves and do not know any better. We make a mess and stink the place up. Our Father or Mother will take the time to clean up the mess and put us in a clean diaper. The point being that when we get older, we should get to the point where we are wearing big boy pants and are not messing in them. But all too often in the Church, grown adults, those who should be mature in their faith, are still metaphorically messing their pants.

The unfortunate thing we tend to do in the Church is to ignore the giant, stinking mess. Why? Well, we are missing a proper understanding of Kingdom confrontation. In love, someone should go to the person with the giant, stinking mess and help them get cleaned. This is why it is so important to have someone in your life that you trust to tell you when you are still making messes.

Jon is that person to me. He and I have a relationship where he is free to speak into my life and I am free to speak into his. This gives both of us great peace because it frees me from worrying about if I am doing things right and allows me to focus on the future. I can rest in the assurance that if I have made a mess or am about to make one, Jon is there to remind me that I am way to amazing to be making those poor choices and to get my act together.

The sad thing is, most people never enter into a relationship like this and so go through life living in a giant, stinking mess. The Church does them a disservice by ignoring them and hoping they will get their act together or move on to another place.

The second point is that the writer of Hebrews makes a very interesting statement. He says “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.”

Think about that statement for a minute.

I believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God. I really do. But what the writer is saying is that if the people being written to had matured like they should have, then the writer would have been able to reveal even deeper truths about Christ and the Lord….

What does that mean? Well, it would mean that these peoples lack of maturity “cost” later generations additional revelation of Christ and the Lord. I’m not advocating adding to the Bible, but he says what he says. Basically, “Hey guys, I was going to tell you about much deeper things, the mysteries of the Kingdom, but since you are still infants, Oh well, here is more milk for you.”

The point being that your maturing matters to later generations. What were those deeper insights? Who knows, we only have the writers admonishment of the people and because of that, we missed out on something. My maturity matters to my children and to future generations. If I can fully mature in my Christian walk, then my ceiling becomes my kids floor.

Take Gods love towards me. I did not come into a full understanding of Gods love for me and towards me until about 4 years ago. Now I teach my children from what I now understand. My hope is that my children will understand the amazing depths of Gods love towards them at an early age….not at 32 like I did. That’s what I mean about my ceiling becoming their floor. This will launch them further in their walk with the Lord. This will hold true to all other spiritual truths I understand and experiences I have in my life.

Sunday our pastor, John, gave a message on the presence of God.

He made the distinction between the omnipresent presence of God and the manifest presence of God.

The omnipresent presence is that He is everywhere all the time. In any circumstance, He is there. No matter what you do or where you go, He is there. That is always a comforting thought because in reality you are never alone.

The manifest presence of God is something entirely different. It is born out of an intimate relationship with God. As examples John pointed to Moses, David, Mary and Paul. Each one of these people had a personal encounter with the manifest presence of God and it changed their lives.

Moses had his face changed. He glowed after encountering God on the mountain. It glowed so much that is frightened the people so Moses had to where a veil. Moses came to want nothing but the manifest presence of God. This is demonstrated in this passage from Exodus 33:11-17:

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

To know how much David valued the Lord’s presence, just read Psalms. He was a man ahead of time. He understood things that were for a later age and he gained a place in God’s heart.

Mary lived for the presence of Jesus. In the Gospel of John she pours expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet. When Judas gets upset, Jesus rebukes him and says that what she did was good. John 12:3

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

The clearest example of Mary cherishing the presence of Jesus comes from Luke 10:39-42

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,

but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

That one thing that is needed is the presence of Jesus.

Paul was knocked off his donkey by the manifest presence of the Jesus and has this to say in Philippians 3:8-12

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Seek the presence of the Lord. Every day, all day, in everything you do.

Jon preached on Sunday and he gave his testimony about the Lord delivering him from fear.

Seeing the man that Jon has become, it was amazing to hear how he was totally bound by fear. Not just some “simple” fear like heights or something like that. No, I mean life altering fear.

In the end his deliverance wasn’t with someone praying for him or with his head spinning, pea soup flying everywhere. It was with a small still voice that said “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

It changed his life and by proxy, mine.

He shared two of the most famous scriptures on fear. Read them again and really ponder what Paul is saying.

2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

So fear is a spirit. Where does it come from? Well, it definitely does not come from the Lord because:

1 John 4:18 – There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

God is perfect love, therefore there is no fear in God.

Before you get all confused and stuff let me explain who’s who. My brother-in-law JON is our Associate Pastor for lack of a better term. He is not to be confused with JOHN our Senior Pastor. They take turns preaching, so that means some weeks you will be reading about JON and others about JOHN. This time it is Pastor JOHN.

He spoke on a topic that is near and dear to his heart: Men’s relationships with the Lord.

He brought out great men of the Bible and how they had a passion for the Lord. This passion and relationship propelled these men into a personal encounter with God and it changed their lives and it changed history.

His main point was the question about why the majority of men do not have a burning passion for the Lord. Some would say it’s the structure of the church and that the structure needs to change to accommodate men. Yes, that may get more men into the pews, but it doesn’t address the issue of men having a passion for the Lord. Structural changes or additional programs may get more men to church, but that is not what is important. Getting men involved in church does not guarantee that a personal relationship is being developed.

Ultimately, it boils down to having an encounter with God.

A salvation experience is most peoples first encounter with God. For some, this one event is all that is needed and it propels them into a life long pursuit of relationship with the Father. Unfortunately, far too many people come away from such an experience with only their ticket punched for heaven. They are saved and love the Lord, but fail to come into an understanding of the depths of God’s love for them and the amazing plans He has for their lives.

I was one of the ones who had his ticket punched. I tried to live a good life. I was good to my wife and kids. I attended church regularly and helped in various ministries. I tithed and gave of myself whenever I was asked. Quite frankly, I was content for that to be my life. I loved the Lord and felt I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.

That changed in December of 2005. On that fateful night in my den, I had an encounter with the Lord that changed my life forever. For the first time, I truly felt the love of the Father. It was and is an amazing thing. After that night, my outlook on life became very different. I was no longer content to sit on the sidelines waiting for the great by and by in the sky. No, a fire was lit in my belly to see heaven invade earth. To follow the Lord with reckless abandon. To burn with a passion to see people saved, healed and delivered.

So, back to Pastor John’s sermon. How do we reach men and see them set free from bondage and to come into a passionate relationship with the Lord?

It is through experiences.

That is the answer, but the details are the hard part. It involves lots of prayer, timing and the grace of God. I wasn’t looking for an encounter. It just happened. There is no formula. We are to love people where they are at, to share our experiences and to pray that at the proper time, the Lord will reveal himself in a deeper way.

It will change your life.

My brother-in-law Jon shared a wonderful word this Sunday.

His text was from 1 Corinthians chapter 13 on love.

1Cr 12:31-13:8

…And now I will show you the most excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails…

If you stop and think about it, even if you do everything right but you don’t have love, then you get zero points.

It is important to remember that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that God so loved the world (John 3:16) that He sent Jesus to die for our sins.

Father God is not an angry God waiting for you to mess up, to break one of his rules so He can smite you.

God is love.

Jesus is our example.

We have no excuses. There are no loop holes. We are to love one another as Christ loved us. Reading 1 Corinthians 13, each and every point is how we are to live. Every day. All the time.

Honestly, this is a struggle of mine. I’m sure I’m not alone, but I am striving to see people the way God see them: Through eyes of love.