balance

I am blogging late today because I was behind working on my talk for this week-end. After 27 years of ministry I could just wing it but I can’t do that. I believe that every congregation truly needs to hear from God every week so I must put my best efforts into preparation. Then if God doesn’t help me I am in trouble. I pray every week that folks hear from God and not from me.

On top of message preparation, I am trying to pray for two hours a day and then there are hurting folks, leaders who need coaching, meetings, planning, and time with my family. I love this life! A lot has been written about balance, which is very good, but I want to walk with God. When I do everything else comes around. Jesus promised when we seek His Kingdom everything else will be added. Good advice.

Spiritual attacks

If you are a spiritual leader you can expect attacks from Satan! Ok, this opening line is a bit tough but I need to write about this. Lately I have seen so many pastors and leaders getting pounded by spiritual attacks that I felt compelled to address this.
Over the 27 years that I have been in ministry, I have noticed a pattern to these attacks. This pattern is not just for pastors but for any who claim to live for Jesus.
Satan will attack the leader’s mind first. He loves to use doubt and discouragement. He wants you to doubt God’s love, power, and movement. He is unrelenting in his undermining. Because he invades your thoughts you must stay in prayer and scripture reading. Nothing dispels doubt and discouragement like truth! He will also use your past against you. He will remind you of how sinful you have been. I moved back to Tallahassee where I went to college. I wasn’t a preacher boy while at FSU. Satan loves to remind me of places and activities that long ago God has forgiven and released me from. I have learned to use the truth to set me free. (Romans 8:1)
If Satan can’t get to my mind he will move to my relationships. He loves to create strife between Tara and me. He uses the seed of speculation to create division. If Tara and I are close to each other, telling each other the truth, living open and loving before the Lord and one another then Satan doesn’t have much chance. One thing here, before any great movement of God you can expect an attack.
Next, Satan loves to use your children to distract and divide you. One of the only ways we survived teenage years was we had a family small group. We stayed connected. We shared meals together and prayed together. I tried not to hide struggles from my kids, but I protected them from stuff they could or should not handle.
Satan will then move to other relationships close to you, like the folks who serve God with you. Any attitude that causes disunity is sinful. I need to be aware of relational drift and root out disunity. If you have someone who works with you who is disloyal, they need to go!
As a pastor I have found that there are always folks who are willing to allow Satan to use them to stir up junk. These folks are in every church and organization. Don’t let them lead! Hold them to account and create a culture of unity and love. Not everyone who criticizes is being used by Satan. So don’t get “jumpy”.
One last thing, Satan can attack you physically. While starting this church my back went out from a injury that happened years ago, and Easter week I got poison ivy on my face! Oh well! God uses all of this to make me more dependent on Him.
An old preacher once said “if you are not meeting the devil you are headed in the same direction”. I will risk spiritual attacks to join God in His great work.

last week-end

Easter was amazing at Fellowship of the Hills! Our first Easter and 320 people showed up, many for the first time. We also had another 81 make it out to our early service! This was a great day. I can’t believe that people would choose to attend a church in a middle school especially in the South. That evening I went to the Well, our sister church in Tallahassee and saw almost 500 folks meeting in a bar lifting up the name of Jesus Christ. They met in a bar, yea a bar. It was an amazing day in Tallahassee. Almost 900 people were in two brand new churches. God is amazing.
The fun has not stopped! This week we launch our first intentional week-end teaching and small group series called Rodeo: Lassoing Life. I am very excited about the next six weeks and the breakthroughs folks will experience.
If you live in Tallahassee don’t miss a week of this. If you don’t live here and would like a copy of the material e-mail me and I will get it to you scott@thefellowshipofthehills.org
To our FOTHians (folks in the church) I love you and I am so excited to see what God is doing in, for and through you.

Passion of Jesus

It has been a tough week. Easter week always is. If Satan is going to jerk a pastor around it will be this week. In light of what Jesus went through one this week, I am shutting up!

Historians and Theologians call this week “Passion”. As an American I find this a strange word, but in reality this is the right word. When I think of passion I think about the love of a man to a woman. God thinks about His love for us! This is the day of passion! For this is the day God demonstrated His love for us by the cross. The passionate love of our great God lead Him to a blood stained cross, wow!

In light of this day I am going to sing to Jesus a little louder, speak to those around me kinder, convey my love for Jesus with more intentionally, and just be more grateful. This is Passion Day the day of the cross, the day of redemption, the dark day of the sacrifice of Jesus, the great day of His poured out love. This is the day!

Oh yeah, Sunday is coming and the power of the resurrection! It just keeps getting better!

Fellowhsip of the Hills Easter!

We are expecting a big day on Easter at Fellowship of the Hills. We will kick off the day with communion and breakfast at 8 than expect the crowds to show for the 11 o’clock service. I have finished my talk and we are almost ready to roll. I can always tell when something big is coming because I start feeling the pressure. This week I have felt all kinds of pressure. I am expecting God to show up in a big way this week-end and so should you.
Here are some preparations thoughts…
Pray for me as I get ready to speak, pray for our teams as they set up, minister to children, play in the band, sing, run the tech stuff. Pray for those who show up far from God that they might come near. Make the ask and invite your friends and neighbors. Remember people are 82% likely to show up if asked!
We are expecting God to come through. You have heard me say “if God doesn’t move, it doesn’t matter”, I really believe that. Don’t miss Easter at FOTH! (fellowship of the hills)
O yeah, we are setting up Friday afternoon at 5, if you want to come help!

Make Easter a celebration

The Holy week is in full swing. This is the seasons of seasons for those of us who follow Jesus Christ. Let the joy and wonder for this time fill your heart. God is for us and He showed it on the cross. Here are a few suggestions on how you might embrace this season.
• Prayer walk, take some time to walk and pray enjoying the spring season
• Connect with folks you love, eat together, hang out
• Read through the holy week events through all four gospels
• Attend church! Duh
• Receive communion, you can do it with your family and friends
• Be intentional with your focus on Jesus and His love.
• Invite a friend to join you at church. People will come when asked.
This is a great time of the year! Let the joy of Jesus fill your heart.

Jesus gets mad

Jesus cleared the temple! Yea, Jesus took a whip and ran cheater dudes off. Wow! The Jesus of my Sunday school days would never do such a thing. He was busy carrying lambs, blessing children, and being nice and safe. What made Jesus snap? What pushed Him over the whip-lashed edge?

I have heard this account retold throughout my church life most of the time it comes up when there is something being sold in the foyer of the gathering place of the church. (The church is not a building but a people!) Some wise “biblical scholar” will quip “we need to run those money changers out of the temple”. I faced this in Texas when we put in a high end coffee shop and book store. I had a vision of a place where people could connect and a place for resources the help them grow. Oh well, the very ones that complained were the first in line for a latte! (Sorry ADD writing)

Jesus cleared the temple that day because the folks selling stuff were blocking the gentiles for their place of worship. The money changer had set up their retail space in the court of the gentiles. This was the place that was meant for non Jews to connect with God. God is the God of all people not just the Jews. He had provided a place for them. These guys were in the way.

With this in mind I must ask the question, what is in the way for people connecting in our churches today? Is it music, dress, traditions, rituals, or style? Would Jesus take a whip to us? So often we create barriers that keep people away from the good news of Jesus. I am praying that Fellowship of the Hills provides a clear path this Easter week-end that people can connect with God not just church people but all people!

The decision of the cross

Ever decision becomes a destiny! That is a bold but true statement. Jesus made the decision to go to the cross and that decision changed everything. I want us to focus on that decision.

The journey to the cross began before time. The fall of man didn’t sneak up on God catching Him off guard. God knew full well that man would chose to rebel and be sinful. Before the fruit crunched in the garden Jesus had left for the cross. I don’t fully understand why God chose to create us when He knew our sin but He did out of love.

Scripture says that Jesus “fixed His face to the cross”. In other words that Jesus could have chose to opt out of dying for our sins but He knew that we would not be rightly related to God without that sacrifice. This “fixing” was the decision that all of human history hangs upon. Because Jesus chose the cross, compelled by His great love, we are freed from the “wages of sin”. We could not be right with God by our self efforts or our religious rituals. We are right with God by choosing to accept His death in our place. The way of the cross leads us home to God.

Jesus being fully God and fully man knew all the suffering this kind of death would bring. The power of foreknowledge is too great for us mere humans because it would stop us from moving forward. Jesus knowing all that lay ahead chose the cross. He was not dragged away and killed but He willing lay down His life. No power on earth could force Jesus to the cross but the love of God lead Him there.
During this Easter season we should consider the decision of Jesus to die in our place and once again give ourselves to Him. Every decision becomes a destiny!

Prayer Challenge

A friend of mine sent a big challenge to spend 100 hours in prayer over the next 50 days. I accepted the challenge. I really didn’t consider the impact. 100 hours in 50 days is 2 hours a day in prayer! I am ADD. Focusing for two hours might make my head explode. If I don’t write out my prayers now I get distracted or go to sleep while praying. Two hours a day is a lot! But I accepted the challenge. 100 hours in 50 days, I started yesterday.

Now that I am over the shock of what I have committed to do let me give you the good stuff. Yesterday I spent an hour on my back porch praying. It flew by. The only reason I came inside was that I got cold. The time with God was refreshing and so good. I tried to just be still in His presence. As I sat there I remembered the passage “not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says the Lord.” I am reminded that God only does things God sized and in God ways. I know He is moving in my heart to make me a better man, leader, husband, father, friend. I also know that He is moving in Tallahassee and He wants me fully engaged. The 50 days of prayer should do it, prayer makes me aware!

I truly believe that God is calling me to a new level of dependence and expectation. I need this season of prayer. Here are some things I am praying about…

• A church planting movement in North America
• A church renewal movement in North America
• Fellowship of the Hills to be firmly established as a people of life change
• Tara and our kids to thrive in the Lord
• My second half of ministry that I will finish strong
• The folks I love in Texas to find a new leader to replace me
• My character that I might be more like Christ
• Other church Planters I know and love as well as other pastors
• I am praying for the poor, sick, uneducated
• I am praying that leaders will become servants

That is just a start. If you want me to pray for you, let me know. I got two hours a day for the next 49 days! God is up to something big!!!

Austin

I just got back for coaching church planters in Austin. This was the first trip post back surgery and it went great. No pain and no problems, yeah God. I had a great time with my guys. Here are some reflections.

Most church planters worry about structure and money more than anything. I understand fully the concerns but maybe we should concern ourselves with connections with God and people. Maybe we should listen to God’s voice and capturing His vision for the people we lead. Maybe we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Structure will change and God will fund His work.

Another thought … We are leading a movement not a business. During the 90’s we as church leaders were exposed to the best practices of business leaders and we learned much from their wisdom. However, we are not business men, we are pastors! When we lead the church based on best business practices we lose the mystical power of God’s movement. I am not saying that we cannot learn from business but I am saying that we will never fully understand how God moves therefore we can never remove the mystery of God from our leadership equation. God doesn’t fit a model, a plan, but He is the one “who’s ways are not ours”. If God doesn’t move it doesn’t matter! With that said, allow me to boil it down to this … we are first and foremost to be holy men who walk with God! I am not being arrogant about learning from others, I am saying that we must look to God first and then learn from everyone.

I love investing in leaders. I told my wife that I would give my life to investing in leaders who lead a movement of God. It is amazing how much fun you can have when your passion, calling, and experiences align. I am better understanding the truth about being successful, it is about having successors! 100 years from now no one will remember who I am but will they know Jesus because of who I am?

I love my Austin guys and I pray for them daily. I am honored to lead leaders! Who am I to do this? Just a guy who Jesus saved, called, and equipped. I am one of the “washed”.

Chasing the Bull

We just filmed our first Small group video series for Fellowship of the Hills. I am so “stoked”. The series is called Rodeo: Lassoing Life. The small group series will be tied into the talks I give every week for six weeks. We will cover topics such as false beliefs, heaven, turning trials into treasure, repentance and forgiveness, become people of rescue, and living a selfless life. I think this series will really help people live a God centered life.

We filmed this series on a ranch east of Tallahassee owned by the Gladden’s. They raise Texas Longhorn cattle. I found it amazing that I found Texas Longhorns in Florida. They made a great backdrop to the whole experience. I even was chased by the bull! Watching me scramble away from him was, well, pitiful! Two bad knees, a bad back, and being the same size as the bull make for a less than nimble preacher! Yea, they got it on film, among other exciting out takes.

We will launch this series the Sunday after Easter. I hope you will plug into a small group or step up and lead one. If you don’t live in Tallahassee and want a copy of the DVD, let us know. God is up to big things in Tallahassee and I am so glad to be a part.

Remember to change your clocks this week!

Question for the soul

What would you do for God if you knew you couldn’t fail? That is a loaded question. I have asked myself that question several times and I have been surprised by the answer. This is a question for the soul. This is a question of giftedness and timing. This is a question about how my life will be lived.

I think most of us go through life getting by. We don’t think about our lives making a difference on an eternal time line. Most of us just want to get by, survive until payday, or “live for the week-end”. God wants so much more. I think He is pushing you right now to answer the question then give your life to the answer.

I found myself asking the question today and became more aware of God’s movement. You only have one life why not live it with divine purpose!

I wold love to hear your answer to the question.

the church!

I have been a student of church all my life. As a child we would often play church. One of us would lead singing and then one would preach and then I always got saved. I didn’t want to get saved but being the baby I didn’t have a choice. Of course there was a baptism that followed so …I should be one of the best people alive I have been converted over and over, baptized without number!

Ok, let me push on. Being a student of church I have observed that we have lost our way. Somewhere along the way we forgot about the great commandment and the great commission. Jesus told us to love God and love each other. He also told us to go into the entire world and tell people about the great love of God. But we have gotten lost in caring for our wants and needs, retreating into isolation, managing our sins and fighting over the color of the carpet. I know this was not what God had in mind when He said “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

We must return to God desire and I think there are some steps back. Here are my thoughts.

We must personally renew our commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The most powerful prayer we can pray is Jesus I am yours. I believe that that level of renewal must begin in the hearts of pastors. Leaders must move for isolation, personal parking places, and a spirit of entitlement back to servant leadership based on Christ like character.

Next we must be relationally renewed. Jesus said they will know we are His by our love, not doctrine, structure, buildings, or denominations. Disunity and division are sinful. We need each other.

Next is missional renewal. We can then rediscover why we are here as the church and how we should live.

Then structures and cultural renewal will evolve as a result of God’s movement. I think God is launching this type of movement in North America. I know He is doing this in the rest of the world. This is the heart of the church I am leading in Tallahassee. It is time to let God renew us!

Revolution launched last night

There is going to be a Revolution, yea we know, we don’t want to change the world, wait we do want to change the world! (Did you catch the Beatles reference?) The Revolution launched last night with 86 at the first preview gathering! I am so stoked. Kids came and engaged. Trey lead musically and opened with a Kelly Clarkson song. He sang like a girl. It was great. I saw very skeptical kids get connected. I saw college kids give their lives away ministering to the next generation. I heard Brian Brown speak with passion and clarity. It was amazing. God is moving.

During the run up to this I have had several of my fellow pastors say that this was a dumb idea. To quote one “you can start a church of kids, it will never fund itself.” I know that, and you can’t feed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves! God is in the faith stretching business and He wants us to take great risk for Him if that means starting a church for Kids then that Ok with me.

I am going to be bold and say that for far too long we have done ministry to students and never allow them to minister. I watched college students embrace this and lead out. Soon they will be running this and Brian and I will be coaching them. They will leave Florida State as church planting experts because they have planted a church.

Last night as I watched everything going on I felt the Spirit of God whisper to me, “I am going to launch a movement with this kids that will change the world.” There is going to be a revolution and it is launched in Tallahassee! Maybe FSU will be known as a church planting university. That would be so cool!