Two Lesbians Walk into a Church

Two Lesbians Walk into a Church: John Burke offers an incredible story of grace and a bold reminder that Jesus is never shocked by our sin.

To the Spiritual Dads and Mums

I promised myself that I would not allow my children to encounter the hand of abuse. I would protect them and take care of them. Their heart's condition matters. 

I know what it feels like to be broken on the inside and have a smile on my face; to be quiet and take in the words that were being thrown at me. I know what its like to not be able to speak up lest I be beaten anymore. I know what it feels like to recognize that the people that are meant to protect me and be my hero were just whimps and I was gonna have to figure life out on my own. I have lived in solitude, in a prison of my own and wondered when freedom would truly be mine. I never want anyone to feel what I felt. I never want anyone else to have the scars that I have.  

As I grew older, I understood and decided that to be the bigger person I was going to have to start with forgiveness. If I ever wanted to help someone in a similar situation I would have to be out of it first. 

It took time, and it took effort to forgive those monsters and see them through God's eyes. To be humble and kind with them again, to treat them as humanly as I possibly could. Those things took courage and patience too. Then I started to see a need for mothers and fathers in this world. Every child has a mom and dad as a biological concept but not necessarily in relation. God has given me a heart for children, the ones that grow up in broken homes amongst abusive elders, and the ones that don't know what true love looks or feels like. They have become like my children and I love them like my own. I don't need a lot of convincing to love someone and they don't have to be good for me to love them. After all, Jesus did not come for the perfect, but for the hurting and the lost. 

Everyone that is reading this, you may or may not understand everything I am trying to say but if you are alive, you are alive for a reason. God's NT laws are Love Him and Love His people. It's time you took a stand and loved on someone other than your own flesh and blood. There is a world full of crying and dying children. They could use a hug. I'm sure they would like to be held for a second, to feel your warmth and feel valued. 

How much longer are you just gonna share facebook images of dying naked children? How much longer are you going to tweet and email things on persecuted churches, drug addicted teens, prostitutes? How much longer are you going to sit behind that desk, on that comfortable office chair and on a laptop and think you are doing your part?

Get up and get moving! 

Get gossip out of your homes, churches, offices and start doing something that will make a difference. Get on your knees and pray for someone you don't know. Fast for them. Stand in the gap for them. Encourge your children to become ambassadors for the kingdom. Teach them how to do good. 

Now that you know what are you going to do about it? 

Are you going to sit silently and watch as the world keeps on hurting? We can't save everyone. Let me tell you, you can't save ANYONE. Only Jesus can do that. But if we can help, serve, or empower a lost or broken soul, then we can say, we have started to do our part.

Let me know if you want to know ways of getting involved! Bless you! Shaz

Is the B'day Boy Invited?

We are quickly going through 2011. I am excited about right now and what 2012 will bring!

I love Christmas, I love the merryness of it all. I love being with family and friends. I love having a good christmas meal! It's wonderful and I am all for it.

Keep Alight

I have been in India recently and it has been more amazing than I could have hoped for. In fact I was quite pessimistic about it. But it has turned out to be a very anointed and a time to learn the Word, for new revelation and demonstrating what I was learning.
Its Monsoon season here and it rains like crazy sometimes. So all these bugs decide they have to reside in our house. As soon as the sun sets

6 Common Perceptions of Christians by Dan Kimball

Today's non-Christian 20- and 30-somethings are big fans of Jesus but are less thrilled with His followers and the churches where they worship. Pastor/author Dan Kimball reveals their six most common perceptions of Christians and the Church, what they wish church was like—and why you should be listening to these emerging voices.

Every now and then, we experience an epiphany of some sort that drastically changes our life’s course. For me, it’s an extremely vivid memory of what happened when I took the time to step outside the busyness of ministry and listened to some college students from what was known to be one of the more anti-Christian campuses in California. It was these “pagan” students who gave me such incredible hope for the Church.
I was leading a young adults' ministry we had recently started at the church I was on staff with at the time, and occasionally during worship gatherings, we showed man-on-the-street video interviews to set up the sermon. For an upcoming message series on evangelism, we decided to go to this college campus to interview students and hear firsthand their thoughts about Christianity. We asked two questions: “What do you think of when you hear the name ‘Jesus’?” and “What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Christian’?”
When they answered the first question

4 Things I Want From Those Who Serve With Me by Perry Noble

#1 – Don’t let me be surprised.

If something goes wrong, if a mistake has been made or if we have dropped the ball then the last thing I want to do is find out about what has happened “through the grapevine.” And…I don’t want half of the story either. (Many times just half of the story is told in order to “protect” the leader…when actually quite the opposite is true. “Protection” is knowing all of the facts…ALL of them.)

Tell me the truth…always.

(AND…leaders, it is up to you to create this type of environment.

If you have a nasty habit of “shooting the messenger” then it is quite likely that you do not know the whole story in regards to what is happening in your organization.)

#2 – Don’t let me

Check Your Church's Health with These Six Questions by Tony Morgan

Part of what I do when I start a church consulting engagement is make sure all the critical pieces for a healthy ministry are present. Secondly, I ask questions and review communications and practices to see what elements get the most focus.

I believe a healthy organization includes all six of these elements:

      

•Purpose – This is the mission of the organization. Though all the other elements are required for a healthy organization, a clear purpose is

Now Is Not Normal- Plan For The Future

What do Major League farm systems and worship ministries have in common? For both to be successful over an extended period of time they have to be future minded. Creating a Culture of Crucial (a culture where people KNOW they are valued and crucial to the success of the whole) means putting people first. Of course we should always be aware of positions and roles that need to be fulfilled, but we should never see people as a set of skills. People are PEOPLE!
Another way that we can create a culture where people are truly valued is to make every

John Maxwell on the Hardest Thing in Leadership by Ron Edmondson

Whenever a discussion about leadership comes up in conversation, someone is always going to bring up the name John Maxwell.Maxwell, who is a trained and experienced pastor who passionately loves Christ and Kingdom work, has also greatly impacted the secular world with his leadership principles.
John has sold more than 18 million books and has trained more than 5 million leaders around the world with his non-profit organization called EQUIP. His latest book, Everyone Communicates Few Connect, shares

10 Keys to a Smart Staffing Strategy by Tony Morgan

I get to spend a lot of time with churches, either consulting related to staffing and structure or helping churches with searches for senior-level leaders. It’s been a long time since I shared some of the philosophies that shape how I coach leaders about church staffing, so I thought I’d give you a quick refresher. Here are…

10 Keys to a Smart Staffing Strategy

1. Think strategy before staffing structure. What’s your discipleship strategy? How do you help people who are new to your church become fully devoted followers of Christ? How do you reach people outside the faith and outside the church? Build your staffing structure around that strategy.
2. Hire ministry leaders rather