by Clarence E. Stowers | Jun 16, 2009 | Christian, Christianity, Empowerment, Preaching, Sunday Worship Experience, Worship
When you hear the phrase “God is closer than you think,” what comes to mind? Personally, I’m overwhelmed with a sense of joy and confidence!
The Bible is filled with examples of an intimate God keenly interested in connecting with ordinary people. He promises to be with us. He says He will personally guide us. Yet somehow, intimacy with God eludes us. I believe my new series Can You See Him struck a nerve with God’s people. This series shows how you can enjoy a vibrant, moment-by-moment relationship with your heavenly Father. Not some abstract theological concept, but an intimate connection with a personal God.
Sunday’s message, Seeing is Believing (Acts 9:1-17) traced the Apostle Paul’s conversion experience. Paul was hell-bent on destroying Christians and Christianity. While on the Road to Damascus, he sees a light brighter than the sun and ultimately looses his sight for three days (Acts 9:1-4). When Jesus asks: “Why are you persecuting me?” Saul responds by asking, “Who are you, Lord?” For me it’s comforting to know, regardless of where you are in life:
GOD ALWAYS INITIATES SALVATION!
Here’s a popular saying: “If you take one step towards God, He’ll take two steps towards you.” NOPE, that’s not in the Scriptures. Truth is, we’re utterly lost (Romans 3:23; 5:8) and God sends The Spirit to “quicken” or awake us to SEE we’re lost and in need of a savior. I’m glad God chose to initiate Paul’s salvation and ours. Remember, no one would ever expect Paul to become a Christian and his conversion experience shows why it’s important to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40).
Thirsty for more…tune it tomorrow for Part 2…
by Clarence E. Stowers | May 26, 2009 | Christian, Christianity, Church Issues, Communication, Conference/Workshops, Current Affairs, Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Other Stuff, Politics, Vision
The North American Church is in decline and there are plenty of conferences offering their latest & greatest pitch to stop the church’s decline.
Each year we’re invited to hear “celebrity” pastors share God’s plan for the church and how we ought to adopt it and be large and successful like them. Frankly, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a venue to really address how and why churches grow. Many pastors & church leaders make their annual pilgrimage to Saddleback, Willowcreek, North Point, Fellowship, New Birth, Greater St. Steven FGBC, The Potter’s House, etc. and come away excited and delusional with unrealistic expectations. Ed Stetzer of Lifeway calls it ministry pornography. According to Ed Stetzer:
“Ministry pornography is an unrealistic expectation of an experience you’re never going to have which distracts you from the real thing.”
God used these churches and their pastors for a specific time and in a specific place. Unfortunately, that experience is rarely duplicated. If you were to take the aforementioned churches and transplant them in other areas, the results would be drastically different. Can you imagine Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, or Andy Stanley leading an inner-city urban church? Or, can you see Bishop T.D. Jakes screaming “Get Ready…Get Ready…Get, Get, Ready” at Saddleback or North Point Church? Simply put, God rarely does the same thing twice.
May I Offer You A Few Suggestions to break your addiction to ministry porn:
- Confess your addiction to ministry pornography & repent!
- Do not attend any conferences for one year
- Get alone with your Bible, pen, & paper and discover God’s purpose for the church (read Matt. 22-37-40; 28:19-20, The Book of Acts)
- Get a demographic breakdown of your community (US Census Bureau or your local Chamber of Commerce).
- After discovering the purpose of the church, write down how your church plans to reach that community (this is the hard part). Make sure it’s less than a paragraph because people don’t like to read long statements.
- Preach/teach a series on God’s vision for the church and how you plan to fulfill it.
- Reorganize your church’s leaders, staff, volunteers, and structure (in that order)
- Evaluate & tweak your plan/strategy
So, what’s your next step? I’d love to hear it!
by Clarence E. Stowers | May 22, 2009 | Current Affairs, Decisions, Empowerment, Other Stuff, Relationships, Success
Everyone has made poor choices or done something in their past that could possibly be coined as “regrettable.” It’s easy to play the blame game, pointing fingers at someone else or circumstances as to why you have stumbled or why your life is difficult. Taking personal ownership that your past actions resulted in bringing about your currently reality is the first step to moving past regrets and moving toward a brighter future.
Here’s what I’d like for you to do:
ACKNOWLEDGE A MISTAKE HAS BEEN MADE
If your past actions or words have harmed another person an apology may be in order. Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. Continually berating yourself for past actions is self-defeating. Righting a wrong is not always feasible. If you feel badly about a past action, forgive yourself, others, and let it go and move on!
by Clarence E. Stowers | Apr 27, 2009 | Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Other Stuff, Success
Who you’ll be in five years depends on:
- what friends you surround yourself with
- what you read
- what you eat
- what you watch
- what you hear
- what you change
- what you let go
- what you plan for
- what new thing you try
- what new places you go
- what you believe about God
- what you believe about yourself
- what you believe about others
- what you invest your time in
- what you volunteer for
- what skill you’re learning
- what courage you have to make mistakes
- what mistakes you’ll make
- what you’ll learn from your mistakes
So WHAT are you doing today?
by Clarence E. Stowers | Apr 15, 2009 | Church Issues, Communication, Decisions, Empowerment, Money and Finance, Politics, Success, Vision
“It was the best of times, the worst of times…”
The opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, referring to the time of the French Revolution describes the economic reality of today. The question that’s on everyone’s mind, but, seldom asked is: How are you doing? The answer depends on your individual circumstances, of course – but also on your perspective. The glass is either half full or half empty for many of us today. This morning when I woke up, my first emotion was profound gratitude. Even though my financial worth had been decimated by the events of the last three months, I realized that nothing could touch the things that are most valuable to me.
I also realized that I have a choice: I can focus on what I have lost or I can focus on what I have. I started making a mental list:
- I have my health.
- I have a loving wife, who is also my best friend
- I have three wonderful children. “I am particularly fond of each of them,” as Papa says in The Shack.
- I have several profound friendships that encourage and challenge me.
- I have meaningful work that I would do even if I wasn’t getting paid.
- I have incredibly competent co-workers whom I truly love and respect.
- I have a church that grows dearer to me with each passing year.
- I have a relationship with God that is endlessly fascinating and fulfilling.
And the list goes on. I could name a hundred more things, but you get the idea.
My guess is that the Economic Downturn is going to get worse (I pray I’m wrong) before it gets better. You and I have very little control over what happens in the external environment. But we do have control over what happens inside our hearts. It all depends on our mental focus.
Question:
What do you have that the Economic Downturn can’t touch?
FYI – I want to thank my friends from Facebook for sharing their tips. If you would like to read more, please click here.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 24, 2009 | Empowerment, Leadership, Success
Recently I read an article in Outreach magazine and the feature was an interview with Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles, CA. He said something so profound that literally stopped me in my tracks. He said, “I think a lot of pastors have a dream that matches the life of the pastor who is living the dream they want.” Wow, that statement made me think!
I believe there is a temptation to copy others both professionally and in ministry. (more…)
