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Dreaming Beyond This Mountain

Friday, June 12th, 2009 By 4 Comments

Happy Friday!

We traveled to Pikeville Kentucky yesterday… I’m speaking at Trinity Harvest Church tonight (7pm). The Pastors here, Richard and MaLeah Homes… AMAZING couple! We have been treated like royalty since accepting their invitation… and our time together yesterday evening was so BEAUTIFUL and BLESSED! 

Matthew 10:40-42 “Anyone who receives YOU receives ME, and anyone who receives ME receives THE FATHER who sent me. If you receive a prophet as ONE WHO SPEAKS FOR GOD, you WILL BE GIVEN the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. And if you give EVEN A CUP OF COLD WATER to one of the LEAST of my followers, you will SURELY be rewarded.”

An extravagant REWARD comes to this city TONIGHT because of the way we have been RECEIVED. They gave us a refrigerator of Nestle Pure Life Water AND SO MUCH MORE! If I was God… I would BLESS THEM with a BLESSING they don’t have room enough to contain! Everything they do is excellent, their character is staggering, their faith is off the charts, their vision is NOBLE and CLEAR!

Pikeville Kentucky is known as “THE CITY THAT MOVES MOUNTAINS.” This is their slogan because of the Pikeville Cut-Through, where Pikeville MOVED A MOUNTAIN AND REROUTED A RIVER in order to significantly increase available space for development in the city. (HOW’S THAT FOR ANTICIPATION OF SUCCESS!)

The Pikeville Cut-Through is one of the largest land removal projects in the Western Hemisphere… it took 14 years to move 18,000,000 cubic yards of rock and dirt, second only to the Panama Canal project.

These people have VISION, FAITH, INITIATIVE, and GUTS like I’ve never seen before… and I cannot wait to speak to them tonight at 7pm! This should be a service for the chronicles! 

DREAMING BEYOND THIS MOUNTAIN:

Sometimes, we all face MOUNTAINS standing in the way of our SIGNIFICANT FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. The lesson here is to DREAM BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS… to ENVISION FUTURE POTENTIAL beyond our current obstacles. When the picture of POTENTIAL SUCCESS is CLEAR ENOUGH… no sacrifice will ever seem too big! All the blood, sweat, and tears… it all makes sense when we know WHY WE’RE MOVING THESE MOUNTAINS. 

Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall SAY UNTO THIS MOUNTAIN, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall NOT DOUBT in his heart, but shall BELIEVE that those things which he saith shall come to pass; HE SHALL HAVE whatsoever he saith.

Whether it’s with a pick axe, a strong back, and shovel… or 77.6 million dollars worth of professional land movers and all their mountain moving machines… or the ROCK BREAKING words of FAITH flying from our prophetic mouths… the mountains will move!

Zechariah 4:6-8 Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. NOTHING, not even a MIGHTY Mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; IT WILL BECOME A EVEL PLAIN before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”

Some mountains take longer to move than others. So, don’t get discouraged… and don’t ever throw in the towel. Keep your eyes on the prize… DREAM BEYOND EVERY MOUNTAIN!

I pray that todays blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives! Maybe we will see you tonight in Pikeville… or Sunday at Destiny Family Center! Please leave you comments… I love to read them! Have a SUPER DUPER DAY EVERYONE!

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Learning How To Dream

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 By 6 Comments

Happy Wednesday!

FYI: I’m preaching at Trinity Harvest Church in Pikeville, Kentucky Friday night at 7pm… if your close to Pikeville, see you there?

Hows life for you guys today? Things going well? I really care and I’m really praying for God to help you into the victories you desire! Everyone has dreams… you have dreams of being and doing so many things! Hold on to those dreams… and never let them out of your sight! Anything is POSSIBLE… and your DREAMS, no matter how BIG they may look from where you are standing today… they are POSSIBLE! 

Most of the time, dreams take a very long time growing up into living realities. A dream is a PICTURE of what is POSSIBLE. 

Hebrews 11:1 Now FAITH is the substance of THINGS HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen. 

Dreams are the THINGS HOPED FOR in this faith formula! Without THINGS HOPED FOR, our FAITH has nothing to go after! 

So, in order to live a miraculous kind of existence… in order to live by FAITH and not by SIGHT… in order to fully experience the super amazing destinies God has for you and me… we MUST GET BETTER AT DREAMING! 

For most people, their tiny dreams are not much more than an impression in their heart. For others… a mental photograph. There are some people who carry around mental PHOTO ALBUM of their various dreams. And then there is that very small elite group of DREAMERS out there who DREAM SO WELL they have actually GONE INTO THE FUTURE AND LIVED THEIR DREAMS ALREADY!

AGAIN… Hebrews 11:1 Now FAITH is the substance of THINGS HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen. 

FAITH is the VEHICLE that transports a person from the LAND OF HOPES into the LAND OF DESTINY. Faith CREATES SUBSTANCE out of the things WE HOPE FOR… or DREAM ABOUT!

HOPE has its very necessary purpose… hope cannot do what ONLY faith can do. Hope says, maybe someday. Hope says, that sure would be nice. Hope says, here are my dreams… my possibilities… this is my potential. 

Then, once we have HOPE… once we have a CLEAR DREAM, faith steps up and says LET US GO UP NOW, AGAINST ALL ODDS IF NECESSARY, AND LET US TURN THIS DREAM INTO A LIVING REALITY… FOR THIS DREAM IS AS GOOD AS DONE! 

If I can SEE IT, I CAN HAVE IT! Therefore, I must become an expert at DREAMING the DREAMS of God for my life! I have to stop reducing the size of my dreams down to the size of my human capabilities. I must not filter my dreams through the vastness of my obstacles… instead, I have to BELIEVE that with GOD all things are possible… to them that BELIEVE!

Are you good at DREAMING the DREAMS OF GOD? Maybe you should consider starting a DREAM JOURNAL… a place where you can doodle pages and pages of DREAMS… a place where you can DREAM WITHOUT LIMITS… DREAM as if your FATHER IS THE ONE WHO CREATED EVERYTHING AND CAN DO ANYTHING! Sounds like a good plan to me!

Have fun you guys: DREAM ON… DREAM ON… DREAM UNTIL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUUUUUUUUUUUE! I pray this blog adds tremendous future value to your amazing lives! Please leave your comments… I love to read them all! Come to church tonight at Destiny Family Center… see you there!

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Envisioning the Best Week of This Year!

Monday, June 8th, 2009 By 3 Comments

It’s Monday!

Another new week… a whole new set of OPPORTUNITIES… a clean slate… a fresh start! This could be the week you… get a BIG raise at work, discover a new career, blast through a mountainous obstacle, make a new friend, break from a destructive pattern, cut off a destructive relationship, have the spiritual breakthrough of your life, help a miserable person receive the transformational breakthrough of their LIFE… THIS COULD BE THAT WEEK!

Hebrews 11:6 And without FAITH it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that HE EXISTS and that HE REWARDS those who earnestly seek him. 

This scripture contains the BEGINNING OF FAITH: to believe that God is a good and REWARDING kind of God. That he CARES and LOVES and wants the BEST for the ones who seek after him! I believe in this kind of God… and my God REWARDS me as I EARNESTLY SEEK HIM!

Life is not always easy and my life has its FAIR SHARE of adversity… but I am an overcomer because I believe that I am an OVERCOMER! 

The way we APPROACH our new weeks, makes ALL the difference. You can be like, blah, blah, blah it’s Monday ggrrrrrrrrr! Or, you can say, THANK GOD for last week… and THANK GOD for the SENSATION OF ADVENTURE I FEEL RIGHT NOW looking over the days ahead!

Are you EXPECTING a miracle THIS WEEK? Are you EXPECTING good things to happen… GREAT things to HAPPEN… for THIS WEEK to be the BEST WEEK of your year so far?

When we LOOK for destruction, we usually find it! When we look for success, we find SUCCESS! Whatever we think about all the time gets bigger and BIGGER and BIGGER. I want victory, so I think victory! I pray for victory FROM A STANCE OF VICTORY… believing that God is IN ME, WITH ME, and FOR ME… therefore NOTHING or NO-ONE in all this world can stop his beautiful plan for my life!

Today, we must choose NOT to focus on the miserable aspects of our current situations… but we SHOULD LOOK FOR THE BLESSINGS that ARE MOST DEFINITELY ALREADY HERE!

Pray with this anticipation and a SUPER BIG SMILE… think about HOW GREAT GOD IS and how much he LOVES YOU… all day long, live this day like a kid on Christmas morning… this is YOUR WEEK… this is MY WEEK TOO!

Believe bigger than you ever have before! See the whole world conspiring in YOUR FAVOR! As you head for victory… envision VICTORY COMING TO YOU! Believe in the God you are praying to… that HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN. Believe that HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE… and that he CAN MOVE THE MOUNTAIN!

Or… you can do like almost everyone else does… and grumble through everything that comes your way! Instead of LIVING BY FAITH and CREATING YOUR WORLD BY FAITH and PRAYER, you can let life happen to you… and play the victim, AGAIN. Nut-huh, not me baby! I am a mighty CHAMPION and THIS IS MY WEEK! 

Hope this blog helps you off a better start than most Mondays! Sorry its late getting posted… LONG WEEKEND… little behind! LOL

Please leave your comments… I love to read them! I just finished praying for you ALL! So go get-em tiger! LOL

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Welcome 2 Your Next Great Adventure!

Monday, April 13th, 2009 By 3 Comments

Good Monday Everyone,

I wonder if diversions should be welcomed as great adventures? We work so hard to establish nice little patterns for our lives. We try to make so many perfect moves. We try so hard to automate as much as possible. We flip out when circumstances arise to shock us with unwelcomed CHANGE. 

I wonder if we should count adversity as an act of evil or an act of grace? Has all this pressure and all this agony come into your life to bring you down OR has it come to LIFT YOU UP? Is the universe rallied against you OR is the universe NUDGING you into the NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE?

Instead of weeping in a spirit of hopelessness, should we fall down and worship at the feet of our FATHER with a renewed sense of FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE!

God is BIGGER than people… and God is BIGGER than our imperfections! Therefore, we should never feel like ANYTHING from our past has any real shot at canceling our future in Christ!

Think about this: If reaching your divine destiny depended upon YOUR PERFECTION, it would never happen! If you had to make the correct turn at all ten thousand intersections this decade, you would end up in the wrong place way out in the wastelands!

Is your life really as messed up as it may seem right now? Should you accept your current set of circumstances as a sure sign of defeat… and should you just throw in the towel… stop dreaming… stop aiming for all those beautiful dreams?

Be careful not to assess your progress through human reasonings. For GODS WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS and GODS THOUGHTS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR THOUGHTS! If he is GOD than he has a trillion ways of getting each of us safely to our destinations! 

So when life seems to throw us a great big curve ball… and life seems to punch us out cold… and life seems to smack us WAY OFF THE BEATEN PATH… we should NOT despair my friends! Instead, we should raise our faces and lift hands to the deep BLUE SKIES and BLESS THIS BRAND NEW GREAT ADVENTURE! 

Proverbs 3:1-6 

 1 ”My son, do not forget my teaching, 
       but keep my commands in your heart,

 2 for they will prolong your life many years 
       and bring you prosperity.

 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; 
       bind them around your neck, 
       write them on the tablet of your heart.

 4 Then you will win favor and a good name 
       in the sight of God and man.

 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
       and lean not on your own understanding;

 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, 
       and he will make your paths straight.”

Ok… so there you have it… another paradigm for the same set of circumstances! Selah! Think about this… meditate on all the opportunities this inconvenience could be bringing about. TRUST my friends! TRUST that God is still CRAZY ABOUT YOU… he is STILL WORKING ALL THINGS OUT FOR YOUR GOOD! 

I pray that todays blog adds TREMENDOUS value to your amazing lives! God bless you all… have a most ADVENTUROUS DAY!

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Happy Birthday Coree/ Another Video- Clip #2

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 By 5 Comments

Good Morning Friends!

Today is the 18th birthday of my BABY BOY! Coree is such a delight… well, most of the time that is! At 18, he still has a young heart and he’s one of the funniest people I know!

About a year ago, youth Pastor Nathan Bain told Coree and Heaven this redneck game he used to play when he was a kid. It’s called possum stompin… ever heard of it? So, ever since then… Coree and Heaven and some of their friends drive down a bunch of our gravel country roads at nights from time to time looking for possums.

The goal is to find one trying to cross the road… stop the vehicle, get out, kick the possum, get back in the vehicle and drive away… with the bragging rights! (Please don’t turn us in to the animal rights people… we’re talking about an innocent little kick here you guys!)

Until a few days ago… they have not found a possum in more than a year of diligent searching! Coree and Lucas Wade were driving home from the gym on Sunday evening and there it was!!! A four legged furry creature was in the middle of the road! So Coree nailed the brakes, put the truck in park, and he and Lucas jumped out to go stomp their first possum! Coree didnt have his contact lenses in that night… bad boy!

As they ran around front to the headlights… Coree and Lucas had their feet back ready to kick, until Lucas YELLED to Coree, “NO, NO, Coree DON’T, It’s a SKUNK!” The only thing that would have made this story more funny would have been if the skunk had sprayed them! Unfortunately, it did not… and poor Luke and Coree and a few of their friends are still waiting for that glorious day they successfully administer their first stompin! And Emily and I are left with another laugh and the pleasure of having a son that loves the simple things in life! Happy Birthday Coree… we are so blessed to call you our son!

Ok, on the preachy side of things… from the stats, it looks like you guys loved yesterdays video! So, I’m going to include another one in todays blog. I hope it also adds tremendous value to your amazing lives! 

In todays video, I’m expounding on one of my 30+ Thoughts on Effective Evangelism, taught on this past Sunday night: “The FAITH that a person needs to be saved is contained within the message about salvation.” Great thought… I think you’re gonna LOVE it!

Enjoy the video and leave your beautiful comments! Oh… and have a super day!

Tootaloooo everyone!

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