A Grace Kind of Day

It's Monday morning and you are on your way to work. Sunday found you encourage, excited, ready to take on the world as you heard a great message at church and had time with family. But Monday mornings have a way of testing the depth of our faith and relationship with God. Several times before midday today, your faith will be challenged. Your integrity as a Christian will be challenged. Are you up to it?

Well, the answer is "yes!" Of course you are! if you are born again, you have already been blessed with everything you need to face life today. You have everything you need to meet the challenges of the day. If you feel a little weak just thinking about today, well thank God for it, because in your weakness, Jesus will show Himself strong. The Bible says that God's grace is sufficient for whatever you face. It's a now kind of grace. It's a today kind of grace. Let it flow through you and have a grace kind of day today.

Crossfire Understands Power and Love Are Parallel

This week I’m talking about Jesus-centered leadership and His authority. In Matt. 28:18 Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus passed that authority on to us, His church. Jesus-centered leaders lead from a position of grace, compassion, love and power. We understand that the power of God and the love of God are not mutually exclusive--they are parallel aspects of Jesus-centered leadership.

If you’re looking for a church where there is Jesus-centered authority and leadership, try Crossfire. We have prophetic worship and dance and a great children’s ministry. We offer a strong message of grace with a prophetic edge. Come visit Crossfire at 10am this Sunday.

Pictured: Pastor Harvey with some children from Crossfire.

Pray For Jesus-Centered Leadership

This week I’m talking about Jesus-centered leadership and His authority. In Romans 13 the Word clearly states that government is God’s servant. It says “This is why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.” Government plays a God-given role in our lives.

We need Jesus-centered leaders positioned in our local and national government. Jesus-centered leaders have the unique ability to lead, not only from the position of civil authority, but from a position of Kingdom authority granted by God. Such leaders can pray strategically within their agencies for Godly perspectives and decisions. They can act and lead in response to Godly principles. Pray for Jesus-centered leaders to be raised up in our government in these last days.

Do Not Undermine Government Authority

This week I’m talking about Jesus-centered leadership and His authority. Jesus recognized civil authority. In Mark 12:17 Jesus said “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” He was referring to the payment of taxes to the government so government could properly do what they have authority to do.

Jesus-centered leadership recognizes the legitimate role of government in our society. In Romans chapter 13 the Word clearly states that government is God’s servant. It says “This is why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.” While there are spiritual limits to what God authorizes a government to do, government plays a God-given role in our lives. As leaders within the body of Christ, we must be careful not to undermine legitimate government authority and leadership.

Are You Using Your Authority?

This week I’m talking about Jesus-centered authority and leadership. In Matt. 28:18 Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He was given authority from His Father. In your workplace you have been given specific authority to accomplish your mission. He demonstrated that leading with authority can bring life and truth to those around you. When He used His authority great things happened!

You’ve also been given authority: spiritual authority to take dominion over evil, cast out demons, and declare the goodness of the Lord in your surroundings. You’ve been given natural authority by your employer for a mission and for tasks to accomplish that mission. Are you using your authority today? If you are, good things will be happening spiritually and good things will be happening in your workplace.

Jesus Operated In Authority

This week I’ll be talking about Jesus-centered authority and leadership. Jesus was the author of this concept. At the core of all leadership is the authority to lead. Our authority to lead people must first come from God the Father. In Matt. 28:18 Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He was given authority from His Father. He led people for three years under that authority. He commanded demons; He healed people; He directed His disciples; and He rebuked religious leaders under that authority. There was power when he operated in that authority.

If you want to be an effective, Jesus-centered leader you must recognize and operate in the authority given you and only the authority given you. Operating in that authority brings power to your ministry and your workplace.

Crossfire Focuses on Sending Capacity, Not Seating Capacity

This week I’ve been talking about my recent ministry trip to Vietnam and how awesome it was to share a little bit of our abundance with the people of that country. Reaching the unreached people of the world is a major focus of Crossfire. We have a small, intimate church that has reached over fifteen countries with the good news of Jesus! We support children’s homes in Africa and Asia. We love to send people to the far ends of the earth to bring good news of Jesus Christ.

If you’re looking for a church home, a place where there is passion and compassion for more than our backyard, try Crossfire. We have prophetic worship and dance and offer a strong message of grace and faith righteousness. We emphasize building people not buildings. We have a passion about sending capacity rather than seating capacity. Come visit this Sunday, we'd love to meet you!

Pictured: Some members of the Crossfire team with locals on a ministry trip in Vietnam Oct. 2008.

Ask For a Missions Trip for Christmas

I recently returned from a ministry trip to Vietnam. What a trip! Our team of nine built houses for poor people. We took disadvantaged children for their first visit to a water park. We talked with college students about Jesus and what it means to be a Christian. We distributed the Jesus video in Buddhist temples. We spoke in underground churches. All in just ten days!

Have you ever been on an international missions trip? I know you’ve thought about it but never done it. This Christmas put a missions trip on your Christmas wish list. Yeah! Tell your family and friends you want them to send you on a missions trip in 2009. You don’t need more clothes and adult toys. . . you need a missions trip. You will be surprised how your family will respond when you make this request. You’ll give the gift of Jesus to someone in a distant country. They’ll give you the perfect give to make it happen.

Pictured: An underprivileged Vietnamese child experiencing his first trip to the water park with our team.

Spread Some Good News

I’ve been talking this week about my recent ministry trip to Vietnam. Most believers there meet secretly because of the extreme control exercised by the communist government over public forms of Christianity. If discovered, underground pastors and church members are often imprisoned for long periods. I ministered in a small church one Sunday. It was the pastor’s home. He had converted ½ of his house into a large room decorated with Christian symbols, filled it with stackable plastic chairs, and installed a small sound system. In the bedrooms and kitchen were setups for children’s classes. Every weekend he ministers to 40 courageous people willing to risk their personal freedom to hear the good news of Jesus.

What are you willing to risk to tell someone you know about Jesus Christ? This Christmas take the risk. Spread some good news.

Is There a Labor of Love You Can Do?

I recently returned from a ministry trip to Vietnam. What a trip! A team of nine people from Crossfire built two homes, ministered to children, and brought God’s word to hungry people. Crossfire raised money to buy materials for one home while our ministry partner in Asia raised a matching amount for the second home. Two very poor families wanted to replace their shanties with clean, sanitary shelter. Our team worked with local college students replacing shanties with beautiful homes for very poor people in the Mekong Delta. Our team brought the love of Jesus to those two families. It was like an early Christmas gift. We worked hard, but it was a labor of love.

As we approach the Christmas season, where can you do a labor of love? , As Christians, our first priority should be helping others. You may not be able to go to Vietnam, but you can go to your neighborhood and help someone this Christmas.

Pictured: Crossfire team members working on the labor of love: homes for two families in the Mekong Delta.

Being In Church Halfway Across the World

I recently returned from a ministry trip to Vietnam. What a trip! Vietnam is hungry for the life of Jesus. The country is communist and very oppressive toward any vibrant form of Christianity; however, churches are springing up underground all over the country. It’s an awesome thing to see what the Lord is doing! I ministered in a small church one Sunday. We could not gather outside the building because they did not want to attract any attention. But inside that building there were 40 men, women and children praising God, worshiping with uplifted arms, swaying to worship music and exalting the one true God of the universe, Jesus Christ. It was so exciting to walk into a church halfway across the world and experience the same Holy Spirit, read from the same Bible, and prophesy in the same name-- the name of Jesus Christ.

Pictured: Street scene in Vietnam

God Planned to Feed Us Encouragement

This week I’m talking about the need for encouragement. None of us is immune to the effects of the daily economic news or the latest national business projections. It’s tiring and even discouraging! You need a spiritual protein bar to get beyond it. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you don’t have to live in discouragement. You don’t have to embrace the bad economic news. In fact Jesus gives us supernatural encouragement through His power, His Spirit, His gifts, and His people that energize us to overcome the bad news.

1 Cor. 14:1-3 says that the gift of prophecy is for “strength, encouragement, and comfort’. God planned to feed us encouragement. As encouraged people we are stronger, more optimistic, and hopeful. Look to His gifts for strength, encouragement and comfort today.

You Have Everything You Need

This week I’m talking about the need for encouragement. Ever start your day wondering if you’ve got what it takes to succeed or if you’ve got what it takes to make it? You need a full dose of God to make it today, but you may be seeing the glass as only half full. I want you to know today that your glass is not half full, it’s full of Him. If you have Jesus in your heart and have been filled with His Spirit, then you’re full what you need today.

2 Peter 1:3 says “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” It says ‘everything’, that means everything! You’ve got everything you need today because Jesus is on the inside of you. You’ve got His counsel, his comfort, his power, and his love to face the challenges of the day. Be encouraged! You’ve got it!

Even The Early Church Needed Encouragement

This week I’ll be talking about encouragement. This week may not be much different from last week, but you need encouragement to face discouraging times. Encouragement is a powerful tool embraced in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul constantly encouraged the believers to keep on in the faith. There was much opposition to joyfully walking out their faith. In the book of Acts we find the church in Antioch was ‘encouraged and strengthened’ by the message brought by the apostles. The early church needed encouragement. So do we. I want to assure you there is no problem you’re facing today that God cannot solve. There is no meeting, no decision, no faith challenge for which God has not equipped you. Be encouraged today. His Word says you have all you need in Christ Jesus.

We Will Reap On All the Good Stuff We Sow

This week I’m talking about doing good. Christians are designed by God to do good stuff. We try to do good even when times are tough and it would be easier to do it differently. When the economy takes a downward turn, your 401k slides downhill, or your business is stretched just to make it every week, you may get discouraged and say "what's the use?!" Well, be encouraged! There is a reward. Gal. 6:9 says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." The secret is in not giving up!! You can’t give up doing what God’s called you to do. You’ve got to hang in there in tough times. The Word of God assures us that we will reap on all that good stuff we’ve sown so keep on doing it.