What a faithful God we serve! We started our church in the room of a house and now we have just purchased a building for over 3 million dollars, all cash.
On top of this, we will be able to build it out and furnish it, all cash. Is God good or what?
As bloggers/writers connecting with our tribe and friends is always great. But every once in a while the Lord just gives something to you that let’s you see that what you are writing is adding value and making a difference in people’s lives. How rewarding.
Here is one I received just last week:
“I was doing a study on this passage to minister on. I discovered this blog and was blown away by it. You did an incredible job. I almost preached it word for word. You put it so clearly and eloquently I couldn’t find much to add.” – Jason
Thanks to each of you for every article read and comment given at M1P. 
Even if I receive nothing in return for my worship expression to the Lord, I choose to worship solely because He is worthy. End of story.
BUT, I can’t escape sharing the results of what happens in me when I do declare His worth. I have to admit, I am reluctant to share these benefits because my natural tendency is to lean toward how things benefit me first, so His worth might become a means to initially receive rather than simply give. Yet, I think it’s important to put these out here as long as we never confuse the sequence of priority.
Declaring His worth in a “what’s in it for me?” culture is extremely counter-culture.
The “what’s in it for me?” mindset runs deep.
“We live in a culture that revolves around consuming. Every TV commercial, every store, every credit card company, every bank, every TV show or movie, every piece of clothing, car or product, every website, every restaurant…everything is tailored to fit our desires, needs or personal preference. We are easily infuriated when things don’t happen exactly as we want them to.” We exist in a place that implicitly says this: “We are here to serve you and meet your every whim and desire.”
Obituary for the American Church “How Consumerism Infects our Worship”
Our “what’s in it for me” consumer-driven culture is often brought right into our worship experience. A primary thought for many people as they come before the Lord in worship is, “how will this benefit me? Are my personal preferences satisfied? What am I getting out of it?”
A leader is a reader. Growth is key in fulfilling our purpose in life. Without growth we will fall short of God’s best.
Below is a number of books I have read over the past few months. A few books did not get on the list because I didn’t finish reading them (I admit, I do this a lot).
There is no rhyme or reason to the order of the books I have read. Usually, I pick a book based on what I sense the Lord stirring within me. Other times, just because it looks interesting.
