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.

–”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)

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!!!

1. Release of the old (Acts 1)- the old decade and ALL it’s remnants are gone and the newness of life found in this 2nd decade of the 21st century has come. We all have a tendency to hold on to what is familiar and I see the Lord has taken out all regret and focus on what could have been and shifted our whole attention to the great work at hand.

2. Release of the new (Acts 2)- there will be significant progress made this year toward fresh vision. As revelation came in ’11 now confirmation by supernatural fruit will come to pass. If 2011 was the spring weather shifting then 2012 will be the first buds to break forth and CONFIRM that we are indeed moving into amazing life and expansion.

3. Release of sons and daughters (Acts 6)- 12 is the age of accountability and I hear the Lord saying that there will be many faithful sons and daughters that will find themselves at the moment of release into greater roles. Those who have labored as spiritual fathers and mothers should not be stingy in holding them back but gracious in understanding what the Lord is doing. We must be careful to not allow those who have been faithful to keep going on and on in a role that they now have matured out of and others should step into. The Kingdom is always expanding and this expansion will happen in 2012 through young Timothy’s being sent on their first assignment without Paul’s direct oversight. This is the picture of where many of our loyal disciples find themselves these days. We grieve at losing their help because it is so valuable, and we hate to see them grow up and leave (as a parent with their beloved child), BUT this is their season of release. We must not keep them past the moment of release or risk hindering what we have worked so hard to achieve in their formation. RELEASE THEM, says the Lord!!!!

4. Release of the warring spirit (Judg. 3:1-2)- The time is now for the adolescent Bride to learn how to war. A holy zeal is rising in the remnant of true believers as the comfortable atmosphere of godliness we have known in past decades is nearly gone. The erosion of the “godly soil” has been catastrophic and a new foundation must be layed through the tears and travail of the saints. The Lord is saying to me that He is indeed teaching a new generation how to war and this begins with becoming a warrior! He is preparing young disciples to overcome their selfish ambition and take up their cross. These young warriors will be skilled in the word of God and know the voice of the Holy Spirit. As fathers and mothers we must foster this “warring spirit” with times of extended prayer that is not self related but focused on Kingdom expansion through the winning of the lost. Nations must be adopted, tribes must be possessed, burdens for regions must come with great passion in order for this new generation to take up the cause of finishing the Great Task (Commission). It is time for the warring spirit to be released! See 1 Jn. 2:14

The result of the surgery has (and will continue to be) excellent up to this point. The bottom line purpose of fixing my dialysis access was completely successful. Amazingly, the surgeon was able to take a vein from my leg and patch the problematic area in my arm.

Finally, I am so grateful for the support that the Lord has put in my life during these trying times. Doc Crandall has been a God-send for me and I thank the Lord for his guidance and help daily. My parents and in-laws have stood with us faithfully, and of course, last but not least, my dear and precious wife Amie. Without her I don’t know what I would do! She is truly a great treasure sent from heaven!

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support as we watch the Lord do miracles in my body. Healing and Health are mine in Jesus name!

1 Pet. 2:24 “and by His stripes you WERE healed!”

In my right arm is a dialysis access port. This port is my “lifeline” for treatment 3 times a week. During the course of the last few weeks there has been a battle raging with an infected needle sight. This sight is connected to the artery in my arm and has become exposed to infection and continued bleeding. Obviously, this is not good! Several weeks ago there was an episode where this site became dangerously infected. After hospitalization for 3 days and many antibiotics, the infection completely left. This enabled me to be home for Thanksgiving (all of this occurred in south Fla.), and I am so thankful for that time with family and friends.

Fast forward to Wednesday of this week, the site in my arm developed another serious issue that brought clarity to the fact that without surgical revision to my arm the problem at hand would persist and even be life threatening (due to potential rapid blood loss). So today they are going to take a vein from my leg and “patch” the necrotic (dead) tissue in my arm. This procedure is not dangerous but has many potential complications. On top of this surgery, a temporary catheter must be placed in order to sustain dialysis while my permanent access heals in my arm.

I know this is a lot of medical jargon but the bottom line is we’re gonna get this patched up so life can move forward. Your prayers and thoughts are so valuable and we are truly grateful for all the support and love that has already been shown. Amie and I are strong in faith but weary with the battle (as you can imagine). Any way the Lord would put us on your heart to pray would be appreciated!

I hope this little update will help you to know the situation more closely. In parting, we must have a Scripture for everything I am and aspire to be is built on the rock of His glorious Word:

2 Tim. 2:8-13 ESV
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.