Learning to be transparent was one of the single biggest gifts I received when I first returned to the Father’s house. There is no corner of my life that I’m unwilling to share with a person on any given day, even those parts of my life I’m the most ashamed of. I’m not talking about a public broadcast, but a willingness to be real and open with people at a personal level. This allows folks to see the real me, not the minister of business owner.

It’s never easy to be open and honest about your failures. However, we must use our life experiences to help those around us, it does make a huge difference when someone understands they are not alone in a place or situation they may find themselves on any given day.

Continue reading →

In the fall of 2012, we found ourselves at a crossroads. We had been visiting family in New York when we ran across a local church facility for sale. We stopped and looked around the outside of the building and then walked the property to get a sense of what the Lord might want to do there. We already knew what the inside looked like since we had attended a wedding there a few years back and family had served as ministers on the staff.

We had a meeting to discuss this with family and friends in the area that surprised all of us, there was an anointing of the Holy spirit that we could not deny. Whether or not this was the right facility was not the question, but, did our Father want us to birth a church in this area? Looking at this through our eyes, it made sense. However, our Lord’s ways are not our ways.

Continue reading →

It was August of 2005, I was parked in a truck stop in Kingman, AZ headed to Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield California to minister at a big bracket race. It had been years since I listened to secular music, but for some reason the Bon Jovi song ‘Dead or Alive’ was stuck in my head. I’m generally not one to have that kind of thing happen unless the Lord’s telling me something…time to pray.

I can remember laying in bed when the phone rang, it was the pastor of the church who helped us birth the ministry. He asked where I was and what I was up to and then what was going on. I told him about the song, he asked what I thought it meant. I explained the only thing I kept hearing was the enemy wanted me dead. No other explanation…we prayed and I went on to Bakersfield.

Continue reading →

‘We need to talk’, those words struck fear in my heart! Whenever my supervisor used that statement, 100% of the time it meant I had done something he was not happy about. I had never been so beaten down by words in my life, to the point where it had significant impact on my self worth.

That was one of the most difficult periods I had ever experienced. I felt like I could do very little right even though I was heralded as a knowledgeable, articulate and consummate professional. It would take a few years for me to regain my confidence after I left that assignment. All because of one persons words.

Continue reading →

As a Christ follower, it was hard for me to accept adversity in my life. In the beginning of my journey, I believed that while I would see some type of trouble in my life, He would keep me from the ‘big stuff’. That is one of the biggest lies of all time and a ploy of the enemy. Just because you walk with the Lord, it does not keep you from troubles. What it does do is give you a place of refuge when hard times strike.

I have Christ following friends who have dealt with extreme difficulties in this life. Everything from the death of a spouse to lost jobs to deep physical pain. Some are still wandering in the wilderness wondering if the Lord has forsaken them. Even though they know better, doubt is a constant companion on our journey with the Lord….and at times trying to understand all that is going on is a near impossibility.

Continue reading →