Matt shares about those who have inspired us to live on fire for God.  He discusses the importance of staying childlike and vitally connected to Jesus, keeping us from being religious and full of zeal for the rest of our lives.

His message revolved around “Getting Outside of the Camp”, which refers to Hebrews 13:10-16 and also the Day of Atonement.  He spoke of Christians should be willing to get out of their comfort zone and OUT of the mainstream.  In the Old Testament, “outside of the camp” usually dealt with rejection (i.e. lepers were sent “outside of the camp”).  He also gave an illustration that today’s Western Christianity is much like the flu shot.  When you receive a flu shot, it has just enough of the dead virus to make your immune system become aware.  So, when the real virus attacks your body, your immune system rejects the virus.  Much like most Christians have just enough of God, that when a real move of the Holy Spirit comes in, they reject it because it’s different or they don’t understand it.

Steve also taught on Luke 5 where Jesus told Peter to take their boat out into the deep.  Most of you know the story.  Peter told Jesus “we’ve already been out there fishing all night and caught nothing.”  He was basically telling Jesus to stick to being a carpenter b/c he knew nothing about fishing.  But Peter was willing to take a little risk and go deeper.  Sometimes when God calls us to do something, he calls us to get in over our heads.  Of course the fisherman brought in a haul so big, the nets started ripping and they had to call in other boats to help with the catch.  When you know the heart of the Father, you know that Daddy will make you come out better than when you started.  You can take some risks and trust God to meet you there.  Steve explained this as a picture of revival, and wouldn’t it be awesome to see such a move of God, that the revialists would have to call in other ministries to help with the revival.

Listen and enjoy!

One of our worship leaders, David Olinger, also wrote a chorus after her message.

I will not question Your decisions.

I want a heart that trusts You God.

I will not worry about tomorrow.

I want a heart that trusts You God.

I will seek first the Kingdom.  All other things will be added to me.

Listen and enjoy!

One of the men is a warrior who has killed a lion with his spear.  His story of becoming a Christian is a must listen.  He went crazy for over 30 days and only ate dirt.  Listen to his story and find out what God did when he came out of this mental state of mind.  You can visit their website and help support their cause by purchasing cd’s and their photobook at http://www.en-kata.com/ .

Tom’s message, “The Making of A Leader”, dealt with the study of commonalities leaders have.  He mentioned a book by Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development, which studied the leaders in the Bible and discovered that God allowed each of those leaders to go through tests to prepare them for leadership.  These tests helped change their character to bring about God’s desired result for their lives:  a position of responsibility.  For example, Moses at age 40 was a different man than he was at age 80.  At age 40 he was bold and ready to deliver  the Israelites his way by killing Egyptians.  But at age 80 he was broken and didn’t believe he was able to do what God had called him to do.  In Exodous 3, he tells God that he is not a good speaker, but God asks him “Who do you think made your tongue?  I will be with you.”  When we are broken, as Moses was, we are poised to learn.

Tom also mentioned a book by Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, which analyzed the top 1500 Wallstreet companies to determine how many had made it from “good to great.” They found that only 11 of the top companies were “great”, and each of the CEO’s had the same type of leadership style.  They were not flamboyant personalities, but rather lived by a set of principles that displayed life was more than just business.  They were labeled “servant leaders”.  They were quick to share the credit for successes, and quick to take the blame for failures.  This type of “mirror” leadership was mostly responsible for making these companies “great.”

Tom’s heart is to be a father figure to the body of Christ. Listen & you will enjoy!