The Church Royse City

Here is our promo video about the church Bryan and I are planting here in Royse City.  We are so excited for what God is doing! We moved 7 weeks ago with no one on the team.  All we had was a dream in our heart!  Now we currently have over 70 people on our team! God has done great things! For more information on how to join The Church Royse City go to www.thechurchrc.com come join the journey!

God is better than we think. So it is time to change how we think.

Jeremiah 29:11
I know the thoughts that I think towards you, to prosper you and to give you a future and a HOPE.
 
These scriptures have been resounding in my heart recently.  God has us on His mind.  Let me say it this way He is thinking about YOU! In fact by Jeremiah we can conclude that God is not only thinking about you, but He is thinking GOOD things about you.  He is thinking about blessings and promotions that He wants to bring across your path.

The problem is that so often we don't think that God is dreaming up good things for us.  Jeremiah writes this scripture to let us know that God is so much BETTER then what we think! He is a GOOD God who desires to do GOOD things in our life!

If we could grasp this simple concept how our life would change!! If you woke up every day knowing that: If God be for you WHO can be against you? (Romans 8:31) You would begin to stop climbing the mountains that you are anointed to move!

Let me put it this way:
YOU and GOD make a MAJORITY!

With God on your side there is no economic downturn that can set you back.  No disappointment too BIG.  No obstacle too tall!  God is GREATER and HE is on your side! In fact you are on His mind.  While you are going about your day, God is thinking about you and working on your behalf!

You have an UNDEFEATED King that is fighting on your side.  A king who has never lost a single battle is on your side.  What a good team you and God make!

Romans 12:2 

.... but be transformed by the renewing of your mind SO that you might prove what is the good and acceptable will of God 

Jeremiah lets us know that God is better than we think, then Romans lets us know that we must change the way we think!

Can I tell you today that we need to change how we think about God so we can see His plans revealed in our life?  You will never see God's best in your life as long as you are going around with a defeated attitude.  Thinking that there is no way you are ever going to overcome this problem.  That you don't know if God can prosper you.

It is time that we realize that God is on our side! He is thinking GOOD thoughts toward you!

Prophets & Scribes

1 John 1:1-4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full

When you read the Bible it should be noted that there were scribes. So as Paul was in prison he was telling someone what to write.  This person would write out what Paul would say and he would tell them what he had seen, heard, and experienced.  Although the scribe would learn a lot about God through Paul he didn't have an encounter of His own to write about.   

Then in the Bible there are prophets  The scribe would write what the prophet would tell them.   Here we are hearing the account of John.  He is letting us know that this isn't something he had heard about at a church service or by his friends.  He is letting them know the Jesus he had encountered for Himself.  

The difference in the prophet and the scribe is as wide and vast as the sea.  I long for this generation to become prophets. Telling a lost and dying world their own experience with God.   

I am troubled by people's ability to fall in and out of love with God so very easily.  Then I realized the other day that my frustration is with scribes.  See, you can't be talked out of something that you have experienced for yourself. I know that chocolate is good because I have tasted it for myself.  I have tried lots of kinds of chocolate and with that I can tell you my favorite ones to eat and my lesser favorites.  

Most people have never truly tasted of God's goodness and His presence.  That is why it is so easy for them to be talked into following someone else.

One of my favorite scriptures is when Jesus looks at the disciples and asks them "Are you going to leave me too?"  then Peter shouts out "To whom else would we go?  Your words are the words of eternal life!!" 

(John 6)  

Peter understood that he left Jesus then he would then give his life to someone else.  He had experienced too much of Jesus to leave.  It was too late to leave.  He was too far in.  He knew too much.  He knew nothing else compared.  No one else could satisfy.  

Can I just challenge you to become a prophet in this world!?  

Experience God for yourself.  Stop talking about the stories of others encounter and get an encounter for yourself.

How to respond when people don't like what you are doing.

Nehemiah 6 Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.

3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

4 But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner

Here Nehemiah is building the wall.  He is closer than ever to completion when there is an invitation for him to come.  However he discerns that this friendly invitation is with ill intent. 

We must always realize that sometimes even friendly invitations must not be acknowledged.  They are sent by the enemy to do one thing and that is to distract you and hinder you from your purpose. You must be so lead by the Holy Spirit that it isn’t by what the person is saying to you that determines whether or not you trust them but it is by what the spirit of the Lord shows you.

In my own life I have had so many people come my way with “suggestions” on how I should be different honestly if you could name it I have at some point heard it.  Everything from the following:

You look too much like Barbie no one will 
ever take you seriously when you preach.

Women’s ministry would be better at our 
church if you didn’t minister every time.

You say you are girly but you 
don’t wear dresses.

Then I wear dresses and they would 
say your pants are too tight.

Then there is the comments of you are 
too girly so I can’t receive from you.

Your preaching is too practical.  
I need something deeper.

All these suggestions are sent by the enemy to try to distract me from what God has called me to do.  No matter what you are building in life the enemy will send people your way that are friendly…in fact some of these people you may call friends.  They will begin to spew the plan of the enemy into your heart, and if you let it, it will begin to poison your destiny.

I LOVE Nehemiah’s response.  Let’s read that again.

3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

Man that gets me excited!!!! I long for a people to be so tied to their purpose that they refuse to be distracted by the critics that come their way.  I long for a people to have their identity so deeply embedded in the cross that they are unmoved when things come to oppose what Christ has already settled. 

Each time you fight the critics you loose and they win.  You may have read the above comments and asked what did I say in response. 

I said nothing.  Some were to my face.  Some were via email.  Some were by text.  I never replied.  To reply is to magnify what the enemy has sent in my life to hurt me. 

I love what Nehemiah pens in verse 9:

For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”

The things that the enemy sends into your life; the criticism is to make you weakened in the call of God on your life.  If I allowed those words that were spoken I would have looked at my life and questioned the gifting that God had placed inside of me.

God called me as a girly girl and He is going to use me as that girl. 

You don’t have to change to be used.  In fact it is the opposite.  You have to FIGHT to be who you are.

When you begin to change who you are to make others happy that is when the anointing that is on your life becomes tainted, and you begin to live for the applause of many instead of the applause of one  Who is Jesus. 

Criticism has allowed me to learn that it only hurts when it is the areas that I was still yearning for the approval of others.  When you die to the longing for acceptance in that area then you will no longer be troubled when the bad things are said like you used to.  Remember a critic knows how to do one thing: CRITICIZE!!! If you changed what they are complaining about there would always be something else they didn't like.

Daughter can I just tell you that God not only is very proud of you….. He has called you.  Equipped you.  Anointed you for such a time as this and for THIS very occasion.  Don’t change who you are or what you stand for.  The only thing you will ever be good at being is YOU. 

There is a city that is looking to you to do the work the Lord has for you to do.  You don’t have time to respond and get shaken up by the nay sayers.  You just keep building your wall and watch God take care of your enemies!

What is Christmas all about....

Have you ever come into a conversation and in the moment you thought that you both were saying the same thing.... However as the conversation progressed you realize that you indeed are talking about two totally different things?

John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...

So many times we have heard this scripture so many times it is almost like it has induced a "lullaby effect".  We don't even realize the impact of the words of that verse.  We have heard the scripture so many times that now we have a response like this... "Yeah yeah I know that scripture." In fact many of you as you were reading and you saw that verse you skipped over it and went to what I was going to say next (caught you didn't I).

It is almost as though we are coming into a conversation in John that we don't fully understand what is being discussed.  To fully understand what John is penning in this verse you have to go to the beginning of the conversation in Genesis.

In the beginning God created the world all the rivers, stars, fields, oceans and then He wanted someone to enjoy it all with so He created man.  Finally He had someone to enjoy all creation with.  Everything God had done to this point was for the enjoyment of mankind and Him.  So we see here in the first chapters of the Bible that God delighted in nothing more than being able to walk with man in the cool of the day.  He loved talking to Adam and Eve.  He liked hearing about their day and sharing in their experiences.

Genesis chapter 3 we see the devil then tempts eve in verses 2-5.  Here he makes her question if God really loved her.  If what God was telling her was truth...  If maybe perhaps he was indeed with holding something good from her.  He was telling her a lie to test what she knew up to that point.

Behind every lie there is a TRUTH longing to be revealed.

We all know the story.  Eve believed that lie that day.  It is a lie that is echoed in so many peoples hearts even today.

Does God really love me?

Does He have my best interests at heart?

Sin had entered mankind at that moment and God had to send them out of their perfect home...Into a world without Him.  The rest of the old testament is all full of stories about God trying to get his people back into relationship with Him.  It is the greatest love story ever told.  It is about armies being defeated, waters being parted, kings being dethroned and so much more just so God could have His people back.

God longed for nothing more than to be with His people again.....In understanding the beginning now you can understand what John was saying...

John 3:16.... God so loved that HE  GAVE His ONLY SON....

For the first time we see God back in flesh walking with His people again.  This miracle hadn't happened since the garden before sin had entered.  And now we see God being reunited with the people He loved so much.

What is Christmas all about?

It is about a relationship being restored between a Creator and His creation.  It is all about a God that loves so much that He stopped at nothing just so He could be with you and me.

Why am I a youth pastor?

Let's be real...If you have done ministry for any length of time whatsoever you have asked yourself this question.  Being in ministry is one of the hardest jobs there is out there. Watching kids you pour your life into just walk away from everything you taught them to go live a life that is not what God planned for them.  There are days when you drive out of the parking lot with a sense of purpose and knowing that this is what you were called to do.  While other nights you drive out of the parking lot believing by faith that someone got something that will change their life.  I can't tell you how many nights when I was first starting out in ministry I would turn out the lights after one of our student ministry nights I would whisper this question in my heart.

Every summer we do our high school internship.  We believe in ministry leadership and discipleship is caught more than taught.  So in the summer we give 7 weeks to pour into teenagers.  They spend nearly every waking moment doing what we do.  By the end of the summer it is amazing how much they change and develop as Christians and even more as leaders in their generation.  The passion that me and Bryan have becomes their passion and their view of the church and life changes drastically.

Still the question often remains....Why am I a youth pastor?

This Tuesday our high school interns each preached a message.  It was so powerful.  As I watched them preach I began to realize this is why we do what we do....

Ministry really is not about lights, games, events or retreats.  It isn't about being trendy, edgy or crazy.  It is about only two things:
1.  Giving them roots
2. Giving them wings

So many times as a youth pastor I have never truly gotten it.  I thought it was about being the best out there or making sure it was fun.  I more convinced than ever that it is about providing a place where they get roots.  Where they find out what they believe and why they believe it.  We as a church must be sure that we aren't preaching good ideas but that they are learning what the Word of God says about their life.  I want them to know not what I think, but what God thinks about them and their life.  That is what makes all the difference.  It is the truth you believe that liberates and sets you free.  To establish good roots we must have an environment of love.  I am old school enough to believe that you can change any persons life by loving them where they are.  Everyone already knows what they aren't.  They knew their short comings before walking into a church.  They need us to remind them WHO they ARE in CHRIST.  When they realize this their roots will begin to grow.
Ephesians 3:17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong

Secondly we must be a place that we let them have wings.  Let them do what God has called them to do.  A leader once equipped if they aren't released into their purpose becomes frustrated.  We must provide an environment where they are able to do what God has called them to do.  Whatever that may look like my job as their pastor is to facilitate that and encourage them in their gifting.  I love what my Pastor has always taught me: "Leadership is easy it is providing an environment where people believe nothing is impossible and that they can do anything.  It is also providing a place that if they do fail we help them get back up again."  Jesus has called us not to be just hearers only but also doers of the word.  For that to happen I have to make sure they have wings as well as roots.  I love the story in the Bible in Mark 6 where Jesus sent them out and the Bible tells us that many came back telling of all that happened.  Make sure in your church that you teach the word, but that you also are sending them out to do what God has called them to do.

Last night I watched them preach and my heart was so full.  Success in ministry IS NOT big numbers.  It isn't having great events.  It isn't being well known.  It is watching your students go from sitting in a pew and learning to now being able to teach what they themselves know to be the truth.  This is why I am a youth pastor.....To watch a generation answer a call that has been sent to them sense the foundations of the earth.  To watch them rise to their God given potential.

IF/THEN

To find out our "then" in life we first have to act on the "if".