Perry Noble, put this out.  I am going to post it without comment.

One of the lessons I’ve learned while being in the ministry for the past 17 years is sometimes what people say isn’t exactly true…things such as…

(WARNING…you will probably only like this post if you are a pastor or a staff member of a church!)

What They Say:  “I’m looking for a church that preaches the Word!”

What They Mean: “I’m looking for a church that preaches MY view of the Word.  I think the BLANK translation should be used…I think BLANK should be talked about a lot while BLANK should be ignored.  And if you ever stop preaching my view of the Word I will leave and tell others that you don’t preach the Word!”

What They Say:  “Lot’s of people have been coming to me and saying they don’t like is…”

What They Mean: “I basically only have three friends…and all of them think exactly like me.  The other night we were enjoying a time of self righteousness because, after all, we are right about everything…and were also slandering you (in the form of prayer requests) and thought it would be wise to approach you with our pet peeve.  We’ve actually talked to no one else about this but said “lots” because we wanted to validate our dysfunction.”

What They Say: “I’m leaving the church.”

What They Mean: “Beg me to stay.  If you will just ask me I will share with you several ways you can compromise God’s vision that He’s given you, thus becoming nothing more than a people pleasing pastor who is more interested in popularity than obedience.  If you don’t bow to my demands I will remind you that I tithe and that the church needs my money, reducing you to a mere preaching whore…one who is paid for a service for the pleasure of another person.”

What They Say: “I want a church that is more focused on discipleship.”

What They Mean: “I want a church where everyone knows me and how important I am!  I don’t want to reach people who are different from me, be it economic class or race or even musical preference.  I already know WAY more than I do…but I somehow equate spirituality with knowledge rather than application and I rather enjoy feeling intellectually superior to those who don’t know as much as me.”

What They Say: “Don’t take this personally…but…”

What They Mean: “I am about to lower the BOOM on you…but you can’t get angry because I told you not to take it personally.  Even though you have dedicated your life to this and pretty much invest every ounce of energy you have to this cause…and I think about it once or twice a week…you need to receive my attacks, even when they are personal…and you cannot retaliate because, remember, it’s not personal.”

OKAY, that was fun!  I typed it all with a smile.  Trust me…I’m not mad or frustrated with anyone…I just thought a pastor or two MIGHT get a smile out of this. 

I just signed up for a free grant money thingy.  It is like $3 to ship the cd.  It gives you a 7 day trial to their database.  I was not sure about this so I thought I would take some screenshots.

Here is the offer I used.

I got taken to a page that looked like this

After I added my info, I was taken to a page that asked for the payment for the $2.95.  After you pay you are given an option for several offers.  I was told by my friend that there is a vacation one that I should check.  Basically, you get a call that tries to up sell you, I say no, then I get the free vacation.  I am really looking forward to this.

After confirming my info I was given a link to this page:

I was able to sign in and see literally hundreds of programs.  It is a little overwhelming.

I will let you know if anything pans out.

• Another record crowd (by 2, but a record nonetheless)
• The Lord told me to contend for Financial breakthrough and Holy Ghost Baptisms in October
• Good worship set
• Had to add more chairs again, we may have to back up the pipe and drape even more next week
• Keep bringing your friends, we will keep setting up chairs
• God took over my message.
• pics here
• podcast here
• Check out Khamille’s recap here Wes did one here
• some of the guys found some homeless people when they were taking down the signs and invited them to come receive prayer.
• I prayed for the woman who was clearly tippsy.  She about fell out in prayer, looked up at me afterward and said “Wow! That was an experience!”
• We have to figure how to get more light in the service. I saw someone over by the window trying to write their offering check.
• during the prayer time before communion a woman got baptized in the Holy Ghost without anyone laying hands.  She began to shake, pray in tongues, shout in tongues and quake till she fell to the ground.
• Wonder what that was like for the visitors!
• Welcome to The Mission
• More testimonies of calls being reborn in people’s hearts.
• Salvation, healing, deliverance.  Another night in a New Testament Church.

I know that most of the people that read this blog are in Spirit filled churches but some may not.  Sometimes when the anointing drops in a service it takes people by surprise.

For those that have only heard a prophecy on TBN or by the big name prophets, let me share a secret with you.  Very few genuine, weighty, accurate prophecies are spoken by the seasoned prophets in a poetic, eloquent cantor.  As a matter of fact, I am more likely to put faith in the words of a person who bursts forth in speaking with a stammer and great humility than the finely crafted oratory of a wordsmith.

When I first got saved, I attended a church that had one guy in the whole church who would prophesy.  He was viewed as the super-spiritual one.  When I was sent out from that church, he was still the only one that brought prophetic words.

Part of my passion is to see people function in their giftings.  And I feel all should be able to get a word from God because all are called to hear from God.

In the service a few months ago the anointing entered the room, then Serge, my worship leader, began to pray in tongues.  That is not that odd.  But this time I knew it was a prophetic tongue.  I was hoping there would be an interpretation.  A little later I saw the anointing come over Khamille, another singer (and now Serg’s wife).  I was encouraging her to speak the word but to my knowledge she had never brought a prophetic message in song.  I do not believe she thought she was interpreting a tongue.  She was just overcome with the Spirit of the Lord.

In the audio you hear her yield for a second, then get nervous.  A minute later, she begins to yield again.  This brought forth a word of encouragement from the Lord.  At the end of the recording you hear a thud.  That was Khamille hitting the ground.  She stayed there for a pretty long time.

I really feel like this was the Word of the Lord for us.  It really agreed with everyone who heard it and the anointing dropped like a ton of bricks while it was happening.

Part of what the Church needs to be is a safe place for people to discover and practice their gifts.  I let people I know operate in gifts they have not mastered yet.  I am not afraid what might happen.  If Khamille got it wrong, I would speak on the mic what I think the Lord was actually saying. It’s not that big of a deal.

Are the people in your ministry used to seeing people develop their gifts?  Do people gossip or freak out when someone gets it wrong?  Or do they understand this is part of the process?

I believe Khamille got it right and I am posting this purely for educational purposes.  I hate to write this but I will not be entertaining any comments questioning the modern gift of prophecy, tongues, or the validity of the message.  You will have to drink hateraid somewhere else.

This week there was a big multi-site conference where church leaders come to learn about doing church on several campuses.  The underlying belief is that you don’t have to be in the same room as the teacher to gain the information being taught.

And they believe the best way to teach this is to have people from all over the country fly into their location to learn it.

The irony of this never ceases to make me laugh.

• Another record attendance.  It was a record by 2 but a record none the less.
• 6 people gave their lives to Jesus!
• Prayed for a girl with an enlarged kidney who.  The pain was gone when we finished praying!
• Overall weird service.
• Lots of visitors.  i think some were conned into coming.
• I stopped the service half way through the message, had everyone stand up, and we prayed till the presence of God came into the room.
• Had to throw away my message after that.
• Shared part of my testimony. Wish you all could have seen the tears as God was touching people all over the room.
• Tom Scarella spoke a word over me a couple months ago that I am watching unfold.
• Photos here.
• Message here.
• The service was plagued with technical issues. Video stopped working a couple times.  My mic kept cutting out.  Mics were muted when people were talking.  The air decided to freeze up and we had to sweat till it came back on.
• As a team we have to do better.  What we are doing is too important to let people get distracted by the avoidable.

The last couple weeks have been pretty hectic around here.  But the dust may begin to settle.

We have upgraded our server and settled into our new data center.  It is our sincere hope that this is the end of the periodic downtime.

The Revival Podcast - Revivalcast - Whatever you call it - is really coming along well.  Yo are going to be blessed by the conversations.

If you see any issues with the site please let me know.

This past weekend I attended the Revival in Lakeland being held at King’s Table Worship Center with David Copeland preaching.  David has been a great friend to me and my ministry.

Sometimes, when you know someone in ministry, you get a little nervous going to their meetings because you don’t want to see someone you know bomb.  I had never been in one of David’s meetings and really did not know how it would be.  Let me tell you, this man can preach!

If you have a church and want someone who is going to come in with the anointing, preaching the word, operating in power, but not be goofy, you should see if you can get David Copeland to come out.

• Wow!
• Sergio had a new song.  One word . . . Anointed!
• Lucas played a little keyboard for me when I got up to speak.
• Pray that we get our own keyboard player.
• Started off sharing some prophesies.  I don’t remember seeing that in the church plating books, but I am going by the original church planting book . . . Acts.
• Called out my wife and prophesied a word over her.  Funny thing is I had a word that worried me as a husband. “You want her to do WHAT?”  I know that was not from me.  Had to be God!
• I am watching God redeem the call of God on some people’s lives.  It is amazing to watch.
• We had at least one person saved last night.  Had several people come forward to recommit their lives.
• I have decided that we are only really going to count baptisms.
• I had someone tell me that we need to have another baptism. We haven’t had one in over a month!  I love that.
• Photos here. Thanks Catherine.
• Podcast here.
• Left my bible at church last night.  On the stage no less.  Tracey found it for me this morning.  I am declaring in faith right now that next week will be the week we don’t leave anything!
• Love my team. You guys amaze me with your dedication week in and week out.
• We are going to need to figure out some childcare.
• Gotta get better signage.  I think we have the funds to do it now.
• Remember to declare the Word over your lives Missionaries!

It just happened.  Every Friday night I grab a microphone, walk on stage, and preach the Word.  But my people don’t come for me.  They come for Jesus.  The folks at The Mission care far less about religion and formality then they care about coming into contact with the Savior.  And every Friday it’s the job of Sergio and I to lead them there.  But I can’t do it if I have not been there.

So every Friday I purpose in my heart to touch Jesus.  Sometimes it does not happen till worship Friday nights.  I get a little worried on those nights.  Other times it happens early in the day.  Today was one of those days.

I began to worship Jesus and praise Him for His saving grace when He came into the room.  Now, he was not here physically, I know.  But He did not show up physically the day I met Him either.  But He came into the room none-the-less.  And then it happened, He touched me.  When that happens everything changes.

Without the touch of Jesus, all I have is a sermon.  After I touch Him, I get a message.  When I touch Jesus, He reveals His heart to me.  He reveals His love to me.  He reveals His plans to me.

Up until 20 minutes ago I had sermon ideas for tonight.  Now I have a message from the Master.

He touched me,
Oh, He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul.
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.<