Live The Dream 2011

If you’ve never attended the Live The Dream (LTD) Women’s Conference at Healing Place Church, you are certainly missing out. We just wrapped up our 5^th annual LTD, and as usual, this was the best one yet!  Every year I question how this year can be topped, and then the next year rolls around bringing things to a whole new level.  We had the honor and privilege of hearing Christine Caine of the A21 Campaign, Ps. Craig & Amy Groeschel of LifeChurch.TV, Ps. DeLynn Rizzo of Healing Place, and Priscilla Shirer of Going Beyond Ministries.  As if one long message was strategically broken into multiple segments, the overall theme of LOVE was delivered with flare and lots of sparkle.  It was one big God orchestrated message for the 2,500+ women in attendance. Here’s a blip of what I learned:

The weekend kicked off Thursday night with Christine Caine encouraging women to be ready and watching for their appointed time.  We must not confuse our due season with a due date.  It’s not about a date, but about God using us in the season He has destined for us.  We must come with child-like faith, expecting! Perspective is everything. If you don’t get in a place of disappointment, then your God Appointments will certainly come.  Question: What am I expecting?

Friday morning we gathered to hear Amy Groeschel share how we can be faithful rookies with our gifts and calling.  We must take the first step, but it’s ultimately about Him and His will for our lives.  It’s not about initiating “our own” plan.  There are countless examples in the Bible of this, but we discussed a few in particular.  God can give us the confidence we need (like Gideon), the ability to carry out His plan (like Moses), and the compassion to love others right where they are (like Jonah).  Never compare your calling or gifts to anyone else’s; just go and do what He calls you to go and do when He calls.  It’s by our weakness that His strength is made perfect. Question: What are my gifts? How am I called? 

Christine Caine followed up with Jesus being our “first and only love”.  Always stay true to your first love.  No affairs…God wants fidelity; He wants ALL of our heart and devotion. If we just put our whole heart in, God will work out the rest.  Be careful: Affairs come from lust, lonliness, bordom & familiarity, insecurity and laziness. It’s so important to guard your heart by getting in the Word and in His Presence.  A good marriage takes a LOT of work.  Find your identity in Him, and be the best bride you can be…the Bridegroom is coming. Question:  Am I faithful to God?  Am I committed to Him first?

Ps. Craig Groeschel wrapped up the morning calling us face-to-face with our fears.  Fear is simply putting faith in the wrong thing.  Name your fear and call it what it is.  Realign your faith by choosing to trust God.  The answer comes from seeking the Lord until He removes all of our fears.  God is able and knows every detail of our fears.  Our Abba Father has it covered. Perfect love casts out all fear.  Question:  Am I choosing to truly trust God? What am I afraid of?

By this point in the weekend, God had truly read my mail to everyone, and it was only the half-way point.  Priscilla Shirer expanded on the story of Gideon from earlier in the morning.  He was marked with a brand new name.  She reminded us that when we are made new in Christ, we are not the same people we were, and we have no business going back there.  Posture and perspective are everything in the battles we face.  Fear will come, but never allow it to control your thoughts or your words.  God equips us for the battle ahead.  Be careful of the view since the vantage point can skew the view.  When our resources are depleted, it’s then that God steps in.  Questions:  Where am I spiritually camping out? What type of people do I allow to speak into my life? Where am I leading others?

Then there was the famous “After Party” Friday night.  Smores, sweets and a great show rounded out the night.  Although Saturday morning came early, Ps. DeLynn Rizzo wow’d us with a powerful and practical message to help us in our breaking points.  Breaking points really are good places where we get on our knees at God’s throne.  Don’t focus on the situation, but on the solution.  She gently reminded us that God hears us, cares for us, and heals us in His Presence.  Weeping becomes a place of refreshment.  Question:  What area(s) of my life am I trying to control?  How can I give this area to God?

The wrap up came from Priscilla Shirer reminding us not to sleep through the present trying to get to our tomorrows.  We must be present in our present.  It’s time for us to be fully awake and fully alert so we’ll be able to tell the whole story of what God’s done in our lives.  Question: Am I fully engaged and awake?

There was so much meat on this bone that we’ll be chewing for months until LTD rolls around again next year.  I cannot wait to get the CD’s in so I can listen to these messages over and over.  Thank you HPC, Ps. DeLynn Rizzo and staff for another great conference.  Get registered, and I’ll see you there in 2012!

To learn more about this amazing conference, visit www.livethedreamconference.com.

God is a Dream Giver

Healing Place had the honor of having Pastor Steve Robinson of Church of the King speak at service this weekend.  What a great sermon, perfect timing for me.  Thought I would share my notes because this message applies to everyone, and that includes me and you! The sermon will likely be available online at Healing Place if you want to hear the entire message.

God is in the Process…  (Pastor Steve Robinson – September 4, 2011)

God is in the process… If you don’t put yourself in position for a miracle, you’ll never receive one.  It’s not about your personal benefit.  Christian life is a journey.  It’s about progression and growth.  You need to know that God doesn’t expect perfection, but He does want progress.  We’ve gotta grow just like Jesus grew.

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people. (Luke 2:52)

Three points about God-sized Dreams:

1.  When God gives you HIS Dream, it’s most likely going to be bigger than you can handle or accomplish.  God is the Dream Giver.  Abram was certainly not able to fulfill on his own the dream God spoke over him.

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation.  I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.  All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”  (Gen 12:1-3)

2.  Delays are always inevitable.  Tips:

• Don’t take matters into your own hands. Sarai didn’t wait for God to provide the miracle.  She began to doubt.  It was many years BEFORE God provided the answer to His promise, His dream for her.
• Wait for the Lord’s anointing.  Don’t go it on your own. WAIT!  Sarai took matters into her own hands.  Bad idea!
• God wants to build character INSIDE to sustain you when He does bring your dream to fruition.  God was building something inside of Sarai and Abram for His perfect plan.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.  (Gen 16:1-2)

3.  God’s timing is PERFECT!  God has a set time and God makes it happen.

• Stop fighting the process of God and let Him do things His way.
• Serve another persons God Dream until God makes yours come forward.

The LORD kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised.  She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened AT JUST THE TIME God had said it would.  (Gen 21:1-2)

Don’t give up if God has given you a dream and you have not seen it happen yet. Stay focused!  If you don’t have a God dream, it begins with giving your life to Christ.  When you do that, God will breath His dream right into your life.  Every dream begins with a step of faith.

Miracles, Seeds and Needs – Ps Tommy Barnett

The interviews were great tonight.  Wonderful stories of God working through small beginnings.  Stories of God moving in peoples lives calling them into His purpose.  Then there was Mollie White’s video of the “Awkward Bubble”.  So funny!  However, tonights icing on the cake has to be Pastor Tommy Barnett speaking about our Miracles, Seeds & Needs, and opening the altar for the Multiplication Annointing.  He is a wealth of information and his life experiences are priceless.

PASTOR TOMMY BARNETT

Everything we need is found right in our own house.  You never know what’s in your house.  Miracles are waiting to be found in your house.  Always be on the lookout for the miracle right in your own place.  Look for those that God has anointed.  Pastor Barnett said he has seen more signs and wonders in the last 6 years than he’s seen all of his many years of ministry leading up to that point.  Despite all he’s done, Pastor Barnet (who is 72 yrs young) continues looking for ”his miracle”.

Question:  Am I watching for my miracles?

Pastor Barnett talked about how “needy” he is.  We should all be needy.  He’s in need of a lot of people to help him do what God’s called him to do.  Live a life that’s full of need, the right kind of need.  There are 3 kinds of need:  bad need, wrong need, and right need.  Be aware of the needs in your life.

4 Points Regarding”Need”:

1. You need more of the right kind of need. Phil 4:19  If you weren’t supposed to have any need in life, why would God have a need to supply anything?  Ever thought that maybe the need also comes out of His riches.  The supply of the need is the favor and blessing of God upon the lives of the members and Pastors.  Take away the need, and you no longer need the supply.  Need is not always bad.  Bad need comes out of greed.  The right kind of need attracts the supernatural supply of God.  The whole earth is FILLED with the Glory of God.  We shouldn’t rebuke all of the things wrong with the earth upon waking.  We should give God thanks for the Glory of God filling the earth.  We should have the expectancy of “I cannot wait to see what God’s up to today!”

Question:  What kinds of needs do I see in my own life?

2.   The bigger the need, the bigger the supply. Don’t limit God.  Seek the big needs.  God can supply the biggest one you can imagine.

3.  God knows your need. Matt 6:8  God knows what you need before you even ask Him.  God has a big book of miracles where all of the miracles were recorded before time.  Until you step in, you’ll never see those miracles.

Some miracles are in “seed form”.  Do not allow anyone to devalue you.  NO ONE!  God has prepared people for you that are in seed form right now.  Be on the lookout for them.

The Father KNOWS what you need before you ask.  If you just move toward the vision, He will supply.  In fact, God’s already in the process of answering your needs that you don’t even have yet.  1 Cor 2:6  God has THINGS for you.  Many receive vision and try to hold on to it too long.  Very few people can keep a dream for 5 years.  The nay-sayers come and instill doubt.  They discourage you.  Then delay comes.  It was 40 years until the dream of the “DREAM CENTER” came to pass.  Sometimes you’ve got to wait on the timing.

Question:  What dreams am I holding back?  How can I move forward?

4.  You need to know what your need is. Rev 3:17  ”A needless life is an unproductive life.”  (my favorite quote of the night).

So what do I do now?

• Find a need and fill it! Make it your responsibility to reach others that no one else wants.  You don’t need to be a genius or great theologian to build a church.
• Create a need in others they didn’t know they had, and they’ll be addicted to you. Instead of complaining, find a need that no one does, and build a ministry around it.  A sweet lady in Pastor Barnett’s church overheard him say he liked doughnuts.  She made it her job to make  him homemade doughnuts and coffee every Sunday.  No one asked or told her to do this.  One weekend the weather was bad, and Pastor Barnett really missed the coffee and doughnuts.  She had created a need in him that he didn’t even know he had.
• Seed your need. 2 Cor 9:6  He gives seed to the seed.  When I sow, I put myself in a position to be used by God.  We must learn to be better sowers.  God supplies and multiples the seed sown.  If you reach people nobody else wants, God will give you people everyone wants.  I can ask anything I want for the cause of Jesus with a sincere and right heart, and God will supply it.  Anything for the Kingdom of God.

Tonight, I believe I was among many “miracles about to happen”.  So many dreams in the house.  Pastor Barnett closed with impartation of the multiplication annointing.  An amazingly powerful time with almost every person in the sanctuary going up to the altar.  We should be tired of telling the stories of others.  It’s time to start believing and asking for our own stories.

JOURNAL:  Am I telling other people’s stories and ignoring my own?  What am I believing for?

Lord, open my eyes to the miracles in my own life.  Show me Your gigantic view.  Help me to see the need around me…in my home, in my church, in my workplace…and to put them into motion.  Give me resources to make these dreams of mine come into play Lord.  Thank You for supplying my need before I even new it was there.  May I bring You glory in all I do.

STAY SMALL – Ps Dino Rizzo

Interviews were rolling tonight! We heard from the likes of Matt Fry, Chad Daniel, Ben Rodgers, Dixon Changara, Brandon Meyers and Tabitha Montalbano (she is getting married in 25 days by the way), Mark Plumier from Mission of Mercy, and many others… an All-Star Line Up of leaders and Pastors!  One common thought I continued to hear throughout the interviews was the conference felt more like a reunion.  It was all about relationships, not just a conference.

The Holy Spirit was all over the place tonight. You could feel it from the front of the building all the way back into the studio. Worship was amazing, and Pastor Dino Rizzo delivered a grand slam of a message. Here are a few notes:

“Stay SMALL”  (PASTOR DINO RIZZO)

Pastors Dino and DeLynn have been married 21 years, and he’s been in ministry for 25 years. After all those years of Marriage and Ministry, he’s learned one valuable lesson which he shared tonight. “Stay SMALL”

1 Sam 15:17 – Samuel was speaking to Saul after being in disobedience. He was small in his own sight, and he was anointed despite his view. When he became big in his own sight, he became disobedient.

Other verses pertaining to small starts: Luke 19:17, Micah 5:2, Matt 15:34 (small fish), James 3:4 (small rudder steers the BIG ship), and Zach 4:10.

Do not despise (contempt, shame, disrespect) small beginnings.

Question: Is there any small area of my life I am despising?

Slow steady growth is key. HPC didn’t just grow over night. It took 17 years to grow to size the church is now. Pastor shared a story about attending the “Preach for Growth” seminar where he sat alone in a giant auditorium filled with top of the line equipment. As he sat there, he was despising his small beginning because of the small start he had.  Pastor said “I was shaming, holding in contempt, and disrespecting my current place. I despised it!”

Comparison is ACID to your SOUL. He felt so small in that building. Insignificant and unnoticed. No influence. No one likes feeling small. Anyone ever made you feel small?

Question: Am I feeling insignificant or unnoticed in any area of my life?

Everything God does smarts with small. Think about cell phones (microchip), laptops (processor), cars (spark plugs), and the list goes on. You get the point. Nothing would work without the “small”. We have cars, planes, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, McDonalds…all because of a small idea. ARC was a small 2 church idea (with Cajun leaders at that). Now there are 200 churches involved. God’s growing the ARC one church at a time.

There would be anything if it didn’t begin small somewhere. Nothing starts big. It starts with one seed, one dream, one death, one birth, one thought, one conversation, one blog, one lab, one surrender, one dedication. Small is celebrated in the ARC. Even if a church is listed on the TOP 100 churches of America list, you are still small. The bigness of what we are and what we do is in God Almighty.

25 years of Advice: “Stay SMALL; keep Him BIG.” If you stay small, and He is big.  Then HE will anoint you. We just want the hand of God on our life and on our family…that’s all that matters.

HPC had 11,999 in attendance for the Easter weekend. That sounds so huge. Gigantic until you put it into context. It’s only 0.0038% of US Population and only 0.00018% of entire worlds population. Now really, is that big?  That’s tiny in comparison. NO matter how big you get, always remember you are really small in comparison to what’s really big. There’s only ONE very big God using a bunch of small churches in big ways. ARC is just that… a bunch of small churches on level ground believing in a very big God.

In summary, embrace your small beginnings. Cherish them. Or God might just leave you where you are until you do.

JOURNAL: Where do I need to embrace the small in my life? Am I focused on my place or space? Is my perspective from above or only at eye level?

Lord, help me to embrace the small things in my life. Direct my steps in every small area of my life. May I bring You glory in the small things and never stop dreaming about the God things. All for You Lord!

All Access 2010 (ARC Conference)

Tonight I had the pleasure of being back stage as Dan Ohlerking (@danohlerking) and Jim Gray (@jim_gray) interviewed some of the great Pastors and Leaders involved in this years All Access 2010 Conference (ARC).  What a great line-up!  Jim kicked off with the legendary Hillsong United Band.  What humble young guys!  Dan spoke with Pastors such as John Siebeling and Joe Champion, and then closed up this evenings interviews strong with Billy Hornsby.  Such an anointed man of God!

NOTE:  You can catch more interviews throughout days 2 and 3 at http://www.mediasocial.tv/allaccess2010

Hillsong United began the evening worship with high energy praise for God.  Tonights speakers, John Maxwell and Brian Houston, followed up with an equal amount passion.  I tried to keep it simple, but you just cannot condense such great information.  Hope you enjoy!