There is a great caution that has been rising in my spirit over the last several years as to the intrusive and demanding nature of the homosexual agenda. Many of you have read my thoughts over the years on this blog and know that my concern over this issue is a longstanding one. As we move into this election year it seems as if this agenda has taken an even more aggressive posture. From knowing this foul spirit throughout the Bible, it has always been clear to me that it would never be satisfied with expression or equality. As I have stated before, this spirit WILL NOT stop until it has silenced every dissenting voice and forced all would-be dissenters to agree and even affirm their wicked lifestyle. This is what we call a militant spirit!

Does it seem odd to you that the question asked of anyone who claims to be a Christian (whether politician or preacher) is whether homosexuality is a sin or if they or for\against it? For the last 2 decades or so abortion was the hot topic issue that the liberal left used to point out the “radical fundamentalists”, but in this new day we live in, the question of choice has definitely shifted to this issue. It is my belief that we will see this issue only grow more and more controversial over the next years.
The saddest part of all is the weak kneed Christian leaders who have either cow towed already to social pressure and abandoned God’s Word or acted as if they are ashamed of the Bible’s take on things and wish they could distance themselves from God on this one issue. How dangerous!

In conclusion, there are 2 things that we must rest our conviction upon. The Word of God makes it very clear that homosexuality is an abomination in the sight of God and all who participate in that sin will have their place in the lake of fire. This is UNLESS they repent of their sin and turn to Jesus for forgiveness and deliverance. Also, we must be zealous for our God. If He is enraged by this awful sin then so should we! There should be none of this attitude toward the homosexual agenda that tries to distance our personal feelings from that of our God. None of this, and I repeat NONE, means that we can’t love those who are bound by this awful sin and pray for their restoration to fellowship with God through the same Blood of Jesus that saved us. It must remain our deepest desire that NONE would perish but ALL receive eternal life through the gift of God Christ Jesus.

Let us hold to the standard of Biblical integrity in this dark hour. Let us not grow weary in well doing but hold fast to the end and receive the reward of righteousness.
Jn. 3:16 For God SO loved the world (every kind of sinner) that He gave His only begotten Son, that NONE would perish, but all would inherit eternal life.

The Jesus that we serve was\is an amazing God! He was able to accomplish so much on earth in just 3 1/2 short years that we will forever be marveling at His leadership. He exemplified every portion of example we could possibly need for the maturity of the Church. There are 2 aspects of His leadership that I would like to bring out in order to show the great need that aspiring leaders have for discipleship. (Don’t misunderstand and think I am saying that Jesus did anything contradictory or hypocritical.)

–”Crowd Jesus”– can you imagine being in one of Jesus’ crusades? The lost are being found by His incredible Kingdom presentation, the sick are being healed with no discrimination of problem, the demonic are being set free from all bondage, and food is being multiplied to thousands! What a party! Who wouldn’t want to be there? Who wouldn’t want to come back? How far would be too far to reach such a crusade? There were literally thousands upon thousands who felt this way about Jesus. He was the biggest thing to hit planet earth since Adam was placed in the Garden. Fun, exciting, exhilarating, and supernatural would be just a few words to describe the public ministry of Jesus.

–”Disciple Jesus”– the flip side of this picture is the scenes that are painted over and over again in the Gospels of Jesus interacting with His disciples and those who wanted to be apart of His team. We see just about every situation recorded being some sort of opportunity for Jesus to correct, rebuke, or direct those around Him to a higher place of maturity and leadership.

1. Prospects- the rich young ruler was used to “crowd Jesus” and thought he would join the party. After all, he was most qualified with resources to spare and strict obedience to the law his whole life. WRONG! Jesus lit him up with a challenge to put it all on the line and get rid of his possessions in order to give all for Him. This ruined the rich young man’s hopes of being an inside man with the greatest show on earth. (1 of many examples I could rehearse)

2. Individual Disciples- Peter was called the devil. James and John rebuked for “not knowing what spirit they were of.” Thomas received a rebuke of all time infamy with his doubt on display. Over and over Jesus was forming these fishermen, tax collectors, and political misfits into a Kingdom advancing machine.

3. Disciples as a group- Where do I even start? “O ye of little faith” was an every other day rebuke to the would-be world changers. Lessons on allowing the children to come and be blessed made them look bad. Arguing over who would be the greatest met with Jesus’ deep disapproval (of behavior not personhood). The disciples as a whole had constant need of Jesus’ direct discipline.

POINT: There are many believers who enjoy a lifetime of ministry and church (“crowd Jesus”) without ever running into the “disciple Jesus.” If you ever want to be used mightily of the Lord then you MUST find “disciple Jesus” and allow Him to mold you into the great man or woman of God that He sees. Remember, He is disciplining you because He loves you and so greatly desires you to become all He has formed you to be! (and He will do this work through submitting to the mentoring of someone who is MORE MATURE than you, not just SITTING AROUND dreaming about it)

Heb. 12:5
And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,
“My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline,
and don’t give up when he corrects you.
6 For the LORD disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.
9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? (NLT2)

OK, so you are a young leader (youth pastor or aspiring leader) and your heart is to become the man or woman of God that you feel like the Lord has called you to be. Where do you start? What can you do to ensure that you are moving forward in your development? So glad you asked! I’m gonna give you 3 simple things today that will help you to get traction toward being that supernatural leader of tomorrow. (Note: these are not listed in any particular order)

1. Character- the foundation of your life as a minister. This character should be built upon the rock of the Word. This character should be fashioned every day more and more like the character of Christ. Areas like total honesty, transparency, sexual purity, sound financial stewardship, just to list a few! As you can see, we all have many areas for the Holy Spirit to continue His work in us.

2. Calling- it is imperative as an aspiring leader to discover your calling. Your calling will be the guide to walking in the perfect will of God for your life. (If the Lord has called you to the ministry then you would never want to marry someone who doesn’t share that same passion.) The best course of action for this discovery process is to submit your life in the local church and allow the leadership to help guide you. They will be used of the Lord along the way to help identify, confirm, and release you into the specific call of God for your life.

3. Communion- this is your practical relationship with the Lord. The part of you that longs for fellowship with Jesus. Paul spoke of “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” Obviously, this is not something that we do naturally! It is something that must be developed. Develop a sense of deep communion with the Lord. This means that things such as daily reading of the Word and times of prayer and worship with the Lord become second nature and you become a person of deep spirituality (not super-spiritual!).

Wow! as you can see, this is not going to be something you accomplish before dinner tomorrow! I pray these 3 simple areas articulated here will give you something to run with. A sense of where to start in your amazing journey to fulfill Jesus’ best for your life. Remember: don’t settle for anything less than all you’ve been called to be…the Kingdom needs you!!!

The last 8 years of my life have been completely devoted to the ministry of reaching this generation with the message of the Cross. That message ranges from the need for true repentance and tangible fruit of righteousness to the development of top level leaders through intense discipleship. As I have been seeking the Lord over the last couple of months, the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me expressly about the next 5 yrs of my life and the mandate He has for Amie and I. As many of you know, the last 10 yrs (from ’01-’11) has been spent serving my father here at Bethany in the role of senior associate (on top of youth pastor). This season has been an amazing time of growing and serving that I know has prepared me for what the Lord has ahead. Now, with the transition to my brother Jonathan as senior pastor, my role here is changing to both support him as the new leader and branch out into the prophetic\apostolic ministry the Lord has called me to. Bottom line:
My heart is to serve emerging leaders by any means necessary! From aspiring youth pastors\leaders to brand new generational lead pastors, the Lord has put a burden to give freely that which He has placed on my life. In everything from wisdom for real life to faith for supernatural vision, there is a definite passion in my heart to empower leaders to be supernatural leaders. Whether through daily microblogs of encouragement to my new book (to be released soon, stay tuned) on the power of radical discipleship, my daily task will be to lend a helping hand to those desiring help. My final prayer in all of this is that the Lord would use all that I have been through and seen by way of success for His glory. His glory is everything to me!
1 Cor 11:1 Follow me, as I follow Christ!