Reflex Of The Ransomed Heart

"Worship is a reflex of the ransomed heart, never an empty religious ritual or a hollow act of self-deprivation. It is love flowing freely and absolutely from heart, mind, and soul in response to all we have received."

-Matt Redman

A Virtual Choir

Incredible video. Eric Whitacre led a virtual choir of voices from around the world. See it here. The video is a little over 14 minutes. It is well worth the time.

Promise For The Day

Psalm 6:8-9

Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the Lord has heard my weeping.

The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

Promise For The Day

James 5:16

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Promise For The Day

Psalm 91: 1-2

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Worship Set for August 21

So this coming Sunday we begin a new series. The series it titled "Heaven". We are going to be looking at the promise of heaven and the afterlife.

This week our pastor will be preaching on Matthew 13: 44-46 and his message is titled "What is Heaven Like". Here is his thumbnail.

When we look at Jesus' miracles we get a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven breaking into earth; His miracles help us to see what heaven will be like. When Jesus restores the sight of a blind man, that tells us that in the kingdom of heaven there's a complete healing. When he touches the disabled and they're able to walk, or the deaf and they are able to hear, that tells us something about heaven. In heaven there is no brokenness, in heaven we are finally able to be e exactly who God created us to be.

Here is the music set for the week.

Featured Music-Heaven by Los Lonely Boys

Your's Is The Kingdom

Sweet Mercies

Featured Music-Heaven Is The Face by Steven Curtis Chapman

Song Of Hope

We look forward to a great weekend, where Jesus is lifted up.

Promise For The Day

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

The Global Leadership Summit: Session Four/Steven Furtick

Steven Furtick:

Lead Pastor, Elevation Church

Charlotte, North Carolina

Wow. Steven was amazing. An absolute great way to end an amazing first day of the Summit.

Here are some of the take aways from Steven's talk.

*"One of the reasons we're so insecure is that we compare our behind-the-scenes to everybody else's highlight reel."

*"The difference between a visionary and a daydreamer is the audacity to act."

*"We teach our children to say please and then thank you. However, with God we say "thank you" before we say "please" for anything."

*"I don't want to just survive the world, I want to change the world."

*2 Kings 3: 9-20

"If you want to see the land filled with water, dig ditches."

"Faith doesn't wait around for water, it digs a ditch."

"Don't just dig A ditch, make this valley full of ditches."

*"I can't expect God's blessing on my work unless I do it God's way."

*"God doesn't call you to finish what he's called you to do, just to get started."

The Global Leadership Summit: Session 3/Seth Godin

Seth Godin:

Bestselling Author; Squidoo Founder; Renowned Marketing Blogger

New York, New York

Seth was named Business Week's "Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age." Seth's lecture was titled "Poke The Box", and he did not disappoint.

First let me just say Seth rocked some serious glasses. He gave a lively, entertaining, and challenging talk.

Here are a few of my favorite lines from his lecture.

"There is no map for being an artist"

"Competence is no longer scarce"

"Don't wait to get picked, pick yourself"

"If failure is not an option, then either is success"

"Just because the tide is out, doesn't mean there is less water in the ocean"

"Give gifts"

"GO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN"

The Global Leadership Summit: Session 3/Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil

Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil

Speaker; Thought Leader; Founder and President, Salter McNeil & Associates

Chicago, Illinois

Dr. McNeil gave a very inspirational and moving talk. Her lecture was titled "Courageous Leadership For Catalytic Times".

She gave a life changing look at Acts 1:8, and will cause me to never look at that verse the same again. Here is what the scriptures says.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

This is a catalytic moment. We are commissioned to take the gospel across cultural lines.

Jerusalem=our home turf. It is where people look like us.

Judea=Close to home, but not quite home

Samaria=This is the places or places we avoid. The places that are forgotten. The places of corporate injustice, children soldiers, sex trafficing here.

What are you going to do with and for your Samaria?

Are you ready to break through your sound barrier?

Here is how.

1. Pray for a divine mandate

-ask God to break your heart for what breaks his heart

2. Name your catalytic events

3. Mobilize people to Go!

-faith without works is DEAD

-don't just stop in Judea, push through to Samaria

-learn to speak authentically, with relevance, and with authority

Where is your Samaria?

--GET STARTED THERE NOW

The Global Leadership Summit: Session 2/Cory A. Booker

Honorable Cory A. Booker

Mayor of Newark, New Jersey; Urban Reformer

Newark, New Jersey

*Cory Booker became mayor of New Jersey's largest city in 2006. Since then, Newark has experienced a reduction in crime, an increase in city services, and an improvement in education.

*A Rhodes Scholar, he holds earned degrees from Stanford University, Oxford University, and Yale Law School.

*His leadership has been profiled in the Academy Award-nominated film Street Fight and in the Emmy-nominated documentary series Brick City.

Here are a couple things I took away from his lecture.

"Everyone was born an original, buy many die copies."

-Abraham Lincoln

Are we evidencing our truth?

Will You Stand Up?

The Global Leadership Summit: Session 2/Len Schlesinger

Session two opened up with Len Schlesinger with his lecture titled "Action Trumps Everything".

Len Schlesinger:

President, Babson College; Harvard Professor; Former Vice Chair, Limited Brands

Boston, Massachusetts

My key insight to his talk was...The leader is committed to a reality that does not exist.

Len says that in the face of the unknowability, here are 16 reasons why action trumps everything.

1. If you act, you will find out what works...

2. ...and what doesn't.

3. If you never act, you will never know if you are right or wrong.

4. If you act, you will find out if you like it...

5. ...or you don't.

6. Acting leads to a market reaction, which could take you in another direction.

7. As you act, you can find people to go along with you.

8. As you act, you can find ways to do things faster, cheaper, better.

9. If you act, you won't spend the rest of your life going, "I wonder what would have happened if..."

10. If all you do is think, you are less interesting as a person.

11. If all you do is think about stuff, you gain tons of theoretical knowledge, but none from the real world.

12. ...all you do is think.

13. Action always leads to evidence.

14. If you act, you know what is real.

15. Talking to people is action...

16. It seems the cost of doing more thought, before you pull the trigger, is zero.

The Global Leadership Summit: Session 1/Bill Hybels

For the next couple days I will be blogging about The Global Leadership Summit that is going on at Willow Creek Church. Our church (Living Word) is a satellite for the conference, and it is always a blast and a great couple days of learning.

Bill Hybels got the Summit off to a great start. Here are some take aways.

Bill Hybels:

Founder and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Church

South Barrington, Illinois

*When the leader stops learning, the leader should stop leading.

*Leadership matters! When leaders get better, everyone wins.

Five questions to ask yourself.

1. What is your current challenge level at work?

2. What is your plan for dealing with challenging people?

3. Are you naming, facing, or resolving the problem that exist in your organization?

-Where are your programs in the life cycle? Accelerating, Booming, Decelerating, or Tanking

4. When is the last time you examined the core of what you are about?

5. Have you had your leadership bell rung lately?