It is clear from the Bible that if you are a follower of Christ you are called to go and take the message of Christ to those who do not know Him. It means going across the street, to the other side of town, to the other side of the country, or to the other side of the world. As a lover of Christ I must be concerned about all of those areas. As a church we must be focused on the mission to passionately get the message out to all who have not heard. If we fail to do this, we fail to be a church.
This week at our church is all about challenging us in greater ways to look beyond the very small circle of our life into the lives of people all around us, people different from us, and people far away from us. If we are truly walking with Christ the eternal destinies of people in each of these areas will come to the forefront of our thoughts and actions. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:14 that it was the love of Christ that compelled Him. When compelled by Christ's love, we see Paul desperate to see people reconciled to the Savior later in that passage. If you love Jesus like you say, you cannot live half-hearted lives for Him focusing only on your bible studies and your well-being. When you are walking with Christ there is an outward focus that drives you to reach your friend, your enemy, and that person on the other side of the world who does not know about Christ.
This week, ask the Lord to radically change your perspective and let your heart beat for the things He is most passionate about.
Until the whole world hears,
Brad

Well, the actual fast is over, but I believe the effects are just beginning to happen. The services yesterday morning were powerful and I really felt the Lord was working. I believe God is ready to move in power at Lawrence Drive. We talked about the freedom we have in Christ. The enemy's power over us has been broken when we trust in Jesus, but many times we go right back to our chains. We do not have to live that way. If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. We are called to walk in that freedom.
As I looked at all of the chains that were broken yesterday at our church, I was amazed at the work of God. He is the bondage breaker and I want to exhort all of you who moved yesterday to see those chains broken in your life to remain steadfast trusting more in the Word, than in your circumstances.
Lord you are amazing. Please work mightily in and through me. Work mightily in our church and our community. We are hungry for You.

The Lord is showing me so much in my own life through this time of fasting. I see myself yielding more to His ways and purposes in my life and less of a draw to what the world offers. There is a starving to the world taking place and I desire for Him to be most glorified in me at all times.
As I think about our church, the word that keeps coming to mind is freedom. God desires freedom to flow through our body. What type of freedom? I believe freedom from sins that so easily entangle, freedom from religious ritual that has no real power, freedom from the world's thinking, freedom from arguments and bitterness, and freedom from worldly pursuits. So that we can have freedom to relentlessly and passionately follow Christ. Freedom to love Him with every part of my being. Freedom to shine His light into a lost and dying world. Freedom to experience Him in true intimacy and power.
I want to encourage all of you to come Sunday - Freedom Sunday - in our church and allow the presence and power of God to bring Freedom to your life.
Love
Brad

Good morning to all. I hope your week is off to a tremendous start. I am praying for our church today for God to move mightily through our midst. We are totally reliant on His work. I am so hungry to go beyond the surface into the depths of God's love and presence. That when the body of Christ would gather, we would experience God in powerful ways.
I was reading in Mt. 15 where Jesus is talking about the Pharisees and He uses a passage out of Isaiah when He says: "these people honor me witht their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men."
The Pharisees were getting on to Jesus' disciples for not ceremonially washing their hands before they ate. Jesus said, it's not what goes in the mouth that defiles the man, but what comes out, because what comes out comes from the heart. What comes out of your mouth most often? Not just when you have on your Sunday best and you are singing songs in church, but in your day to day. This is where your heart is. Jesus said you can honor me with lips and your heart is far from me. I believe many in church today are here. Not just the extremely negative and vocal and bitter people in church, and not just those mired in public sin, but the majority of church goers. Not because they are not sincere or desiring a walk with God, but because their hearts are still tied to worldly pursuits or religious ritual. Jesus said, "teaching as doctrines the commands of men." We have made our forms of worship the most important thing and many times miss the Savior.
In "My Utmost For His Highest" today, Oswald Chambers made this statement. "Consecration means the continual separating of myself to one particular thing," which for us is Jesus Christ. Allowing the Lord to strip away the world, our man made forms of religion, and anything else that would keep us from Him. Where is your heart today?

For those of you joining the fast, the good news is that we are past halfway. I hope you are finding strength and rest through the Lord and are being nourished in your Spirit. As we seek Him through the Word and prayer I hope your greatest desire is Him. So often we get caught up in asking Him for blessings but we miss the one who is doing the blessing. He will work in those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. Make Him your chief desire today.
As I was reading in Psalm 16 I was touched by the Father's great provision and love for me. In verse 5. it says, "Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future." Then verse 7 and 8 say, "I will praise the Lord who counsels me - even at night my conscience instructs me. I keep the Lord in mind always. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." What a great Psalm of assurance from our Lord. I hope today you will rest in His promises and be blessed by His word.
In Christ,
Brad

A new week has begun and I am glad to be home from North Carolina safely. I hope each of you is doing great in your fast. Remember, the most important thing is giving the Lord opportunity to speak to you by spending more time in the Word and more time in prayer. As we focus our hearts solely on Him, He will work in our lives and in our church powerfully.
Iv'e been thinking about the passage in Acts 2 today where it describes the new believers after the 3000 had been added to the Kingdom. In verses 42-47 it describes the new believer's lives and how they interacted with one another. It was a whole new way of life for the new converts, all of their priorities changed and they became a life transformed, transformational community.
It all begins with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to change their life. As they were ushered into the Kingdom, you see the difference that came about in their lifestyle - devoted to teaching, daily met, gave as anyone had need, gladness, simplicity of hearts - there was a depth of relationship there only God could bring that many times is missing from church today. The Greek word for this type of fellowship among believers is koininia. It is a group of believers sharing the life of Christ with one another on a deep and abiding level.
I want you to notice one other thing, however. Their koininia was turned outward. The Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved. They were outwardly focused, desiring everyone to get in on what God was doing.
Many times as believers we like the idea of koininia, but we want it with just our friends and we attempt to build great relationships and tight bonds. If the outward element is missing, however, we will never get there.

Well, we have almost made it a week. I am excited about the Lord's work and want to encourage all of you, at whatever level you are fasting to be strong! I am currently in North Carolina at school for the weekend. It seems to be a little more difficult away from home to stick with the fast, but I find the more I focus on the Lord, the less I think about food. I am so blessed to be His child. I want to draw nearer to Him day by day. I don't want to waste a day where I was not moving closer to my Lord and Savior.
I was reading in Matthew 7 again today and I was struck with how strongly Jesus deals with religiosity in this passage. If you remember, religiosity is one of the strongholds we are praying against over these 21 Days. Its the idea of having some form of religion, but having no living relationship with Jesus Christ. It's trusting in my works to save me or my church attendance record or my good moral upbringing. Religiosity leads to legalism which leads to ostracizing those not like you which leads to hate and hostility.
Religious people many times have logs in their eyes. I believe that log is their high view of their own works, their religion, their pride. They are experts on pointing out specks in the eyes of others. They love to put others down for their shortcomings. Their blinded by their log of pride to the reality of their situation.
The cure for religiosity is humbled brokenness before the Father. Seeking Him wholeheartedly and not trusting in anything we have done or think we can do to obtain His favor. We must lay ourselves out before Him so that He can save us and transform us.
Brad

Good morning all. It is day #4 of our 21 day fast and by far the best I have felt. I hope all is going well for each one of you that are participating in the fast. I am glad to beback blogging and excited about what God will bring through this time with Him. I am praying that God will hone our hearts to such a degree that we will be able to hear the Spirit working clearly and precisely. That through this fast, God will cut out all of the noisy worldly distractions so we are free to hear Him.
Over the past two days the Lord has been bringing the passage in Luke 9 to my attention. In that passage (verses 57-62) Jesus has some strong words about following Him. If you are going to follow Him, you must cut away from worldly things. As I struggled with caffeine headaches over these couple of days, the Lord was showing me that when something is entrenched it is hard to get removed. Spiritually speaking, when ideas and thoughts and worldly things get entrenched in our mind and heart and lifestyle they are not easily taken out. It takes complete abandonment to Him.
Throughout this process of prayer and fasting, I would encourage you to make abandonment to Him your ultimate goal. Ask Him to show you thoughts, attitudes, actions, and beliefs that are not truly from Him and allow the Holy Spirit to change your mindset and how you view this life to bring it into conformity with His.
If we are not willing to get to a place of abandonment and let go of notions that are not from Him, we will never experience Him in power.
Please post and share with me how things are going for you or email me and let me know how I can pray. The Lord is already working and I am looking forward to more as we move forward.
God Bless You.
Brad