21 Days of Prayer Week 2

So we're into the second week of our 21 days of prayer at LifeGate. I've already heard some cool reports of things that God is doing. I know I've seen some miracles in my own life in the last seven days.

I'm getting ready to shoot over to Owensboro to visit my grandparents for a day or two. I'm staying with my Mom's parents, and their farm is one of my favorite places to pray. I love getting out in the fields and walking along the creek and spending time talking with Jesus. Unfortunately I can't go to Owensboro every day to pray. But I do have a couple of places here in town in which I really enjoy praying. My top spot is on the rug in my office in front of the fireplace, especially during the winter. I also love walking along the creek in the park behind our neighborhood and praying while I walk.

One of the keys to having a consistent prayer life is having a consistent place where you can spend some alone time with Jesus to pray. It can be your car, an office, your bedroom, your back porch, even your closet (easier in a walk-in). I'd love to hear where some of you spend time with Jesus. Where's your favorite or most consistent place of prayer?

Check out the trailer video for our new series, "Dreamer" which kicks off this Sunday.

21 Days of Prayer 2011

This evening I decided I was going to ride my bicycle around the neighborhood. The only problem was that I hadn't ridden in at least two years. By the time I got home I thought I was going to die, my legs were on fire, my heart was pounding and I wanted to throw up...and I'd only ridden two miles:-) I know, I'm way out of shape.

What in the world does my pitiful bike ride have to do with prayer? Well, over the years I've learned that my prayer life is a lot like exercising. The more I pray, the easier prayer becomes and I can spend longer and more meaningful time in prayer. I build up "prayer endurance." Tomorrow LifeGate is launching a 21 day prayer initiative. We're challenging everyone who calls LifeGate home to take the next three weeks and work on building up your spiritual muscles. Stretch yourself in prayer. If you don't pray at all during the day, commit that for the next three weeks you're going to pray for 5 minutes every day. If you pray for 5 minutes a day, make a commitment to stretch that out to 15 minutes.

To help you grow in your prayer life we're doing a couple of things. First, we're going to be hosting a one hour prayer and worship service at the beginning and the end of the 21 days. We'll be meeting on Wednesday, August 10 and Wednesday, August 31 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the auditorium at LCA. You should come check it out.

Secondly, we've prepared a daily prayer guide to give focus to your prayers. If you didn't pick up a printed copy on Sunday, you can check it out here:

21 Days of Prayer

Sunday – My Nation

(1 Timothy 2:1-2) I urge then, first of all that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Pray for the United States and those who lead our country (President Obama, his Cabinet, Congress and the Supreme Court). Pray for a Christ-Awakening to come to our nation.

Monday – My City and State

(Proverbs 11:11) Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted.

Pray for Kentucky and for the Lexington metro area. Pray for our governor and representatives, for our mayor and city officials. Pray also for the 250,000 unchurched people in Lexington alone that they would find real life in Christ.

Tuesday – My Church

(Matthew 16:18) I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Pray for LifeGate Church, for Pastor Ashley and his family, for our leadership team, lifegroup leaders and all those who serve in ministry. Pray that this fall would be a season of growth and miracles for LifeGate.

Wednesday – My Family

(Acts 16:31) Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.

Pray that each member of your family would come to know Christ.

Thursday – My Workplace

(Colossians 3:23-24) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Pray for your employer and for those you supervise. Pray for your customers and clients. Ask God to give you spiritual influence with those with whom you come into contact.

Friday – My Personal Needs

(Philippians 4:6) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Believe God to answer prayers about your specific needs.

Saturday – My Purpose: People

(Matthew 9:37-38) The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Pray for the ministries and missionaries supported by LifeGate (Hogar Ganar, CSF, ARC and others). Ask God to connect you with His purpose and plan to introduce people to Jesus and the whole new way of life only he can give.

Now's the time

Yesterday was a great day at LifeGate Church. Worship was powerful, our kids did an amazing job of sharing what they've learned over the summer, we announced the launch of our new middle school ministry, there were first, second and third time visitors all over the place and most importantly two people gave their lives over to Christ.

God has been doing something amazing this summer. While our crowds have been wildly up and down (not unusual in June and July) the spiritual momentum at LifeGate has been building every week. Counting this Sunday we've now had people make decisions for Christ in six of the last seven weeks. Most of those weeks, we've seen multiple people enter into life with Christ.

I am more excited about the future of our church than I have ever been, including the time leading up to our launch two years ago. I fully believe we are standing on the precipice of a huge breakthrough in our city.

In my message yesterday (check it out here) , I shared about the Woman at the Well in John 4. Her willingness to tell her neighbors her story and invite them to check out Jesus for themselves caused her entire city to put their faith in the Messiah. She was one broken, messed up woman, but she was the spiritual key for her entire city. I'm praying that God will give us some people at LifeGate who will simply tell their story and invite other people to check out Jesus for themselves. As we do that, I believe our church is going to explode and our city is going to be changed.

Thoughts on Baptism

This coming Sunday I get to do one of my favorite things as pastor. I get to baptize some people who've recently given their lives to Christ. Days when we do baptism at LifeGate are times of fun as we celebrate a friends new life in Jesus. In addition to being a lot of fun, baptism is a critically important step in the life of a new Christian. As we get ready for baptism this Sunday I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the importance of baptism. (These are taken from a message on baptism that I preached as part of our Wild Man series in 2010).



1. Baptism is Symbolic - Baptism is an outward demonstration of what happens to you spiritually when you surrender your life to Christ. It symbolizes the death of the old you and the rebirth into a whole new way of life with Jesus. Paul says it best in Romans 6:3-4 - Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.


2. Baptism is for Believers - Every instance of baptism recorded in the book of Acts (the history of the early church) is of a person who has put their faith in Jesus.


3. Baptism is the First Step of Obedience - On the day of Pentecost, Peter tells the crowd to repent and be baptized and they will be saved. People have asked me if I believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. The answer I give them is "yes and no." I say no, simply because the thief on the cross had no opportunity to be baptized, but Jesus promised him Paradise. However, as you look at the rest of the New Testament, it becomes very clear that the expectation of a new believer is to be baptized as soon as possible. I believe it is in many ways a test of the heart. A truly repentant heart that has been regenerated by faith in Christ will want to be baptized.

4. Baptism is Public - When possible, baptism should be done publicly. It's a way of making a bold declaration that the old you is gone and that you are now living for Jesus.

On Sunday we'll be celebrating some changed lives at LifeGate Church. If you are a follower of Jesus and have never been baptized, I want to encourage you to take the plunge and make a bold statement that you're living your life for Him.

Thoughts On Japan

First off, apologies for the length of time between blog entries. I'll be back to blogging on a more consistent basis now that we are approaching the launch of our new website for LifeGate Church. This blog will be a place for me to share in depth thoughts about where we are as a church and about my personal experience with Jesus.

I've received a couple of different requests to recap my statement at the beginning of this past Sunday's message about the earthquake/tsunami in Japan and what I feel our response should be as followers of Jesus. So here we go:

If you're a news junkie like me, or even if you're not, you've probably been riveted by the images on your computer and television that have been coming out of Japan. I woke up Friday morning with a feeling of deja vu as I watched the ocean pouring onto the shore of Japan. I thought that I would never see anything on the scale of the Indian Ocean tsunami, but now, just 6 years later, we've witnessed a disaster just as devastating.

As I sat transfixed in front of CNN over the weekend several thoughts took shape in my heart as to what is the appropriate response to a disaster of this magnitude.

1. This disaster is an alarm bell that Jesus is returning. - I'm not an apocalyptic, end-times preacher. You won't find me teaching in front of a 20 foot illustrated backdrop of the timeline of the book of Revelation. However, the reality is that Jesus is returning at some point and that he specifically mentions earthquakes as a sign of the "birth pains" of his coming (Matt 24:1-8) In the last six years we've seen 5 of the top 10 strongest earthquakes in recorded history. This Friday's quake was the strongest in the history of Japan. In Western Christianity, our comfortable lives often detach us from the immediacy of Christ's return. I believe that disasters such as we are now witnessing in Japan should remind us that Jesus is coming.
   
2. This disaster is a sober reminder of eternity. - The earthquake and tsunami were centered on Miyagi Prefecture, one of the least evangelized areas of one of the least evangelized nations of the Western world. A missionary friend of mine tweeted out a stat that said there are only 9,000 practicing Christians in the entire population of 2.3 million people in Miyagi Prefecture. If that is true, then undoubtedly, thousands if not tens of thousands of people unexpectedly entered into an eternity without Christ on Friday afternoon. Too often we live detached from the reality of heaven and hell. They are real places. This tragedy should serve as a catalyst for us to reexamine our efforts in regard to the Great Commission. Am I doing everything I can to advance the message of the good news of Jesus around the world? More importantly, am I doing all that I can to share the gospel in my city, among my friends and coworkers who are separated from Jesus?
3. This disaster should prompt us to pray. - We should be on our knees and faces praying for the people of Japan. Pray for comfort for those who've lost everything, pray for protection for those who are working in terrible circumstances to rescue and save others, pray for wisdom and strength for the leaders of the nation. Most importantly, pray for the church in Japan, that this would be an opportunity for our fellow believers to demonstrate the love and hope of Jesus to their countrymen.
4. This disaster gives us an opportunity to tangibly demonstrate God's love. - Yes, Japan is a highly developed and wealthy nation, but the reality is that they need a lot of help right now. There are a number of Christian aid organizations who are already mobilizing relief efforts to bring assistance where it is most needed. Most of us are not going to get on a plane and fly to Japan. That wouldn't even be wise. But we can give financially to Christian organizations who are prepared to tangibly demonstrate the love of Jesus to the people who are in the greatest need.

This Sunday at LifeGate we're going to give you an opportunity to do just that. We'll be taking a special offering that will go to Christian relief efforts in Japan. If you're a LifeGate member, pray about what you'd like to give above and beyond your normal tithe and bring it with you on Sunday. In the meantime, remember that Jesus is coming soon, eternity is real and prayer makes a difference.