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Tomorrow is the last installment of the Blessed Life. I have to say that it has had a profound impact on the lives of those who have embraced it. It has been a test of our faith and resolve to follow God with all our heart, soul and strength. So here are few things that I have noticed as a result of this series. #1 - There are some who have discovered a new freedom and understanding of God's Word, which is empowering them to do greater and better things for the Kingdom of God. #2 - There are those who have discovered the necessity to trust God even more and realize that without Him they are hopeless. #3 - Some have discovered a new joy and new peace about themselves and their relationship with God. #4 - People have discovered a whole new understanding into how God wants to bless them and how He loves them. Something else I have also noticed is that The Blessed Life will really frustrate you - if you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Pride, selfishness, greed, manipulatin

This sunday concludes the series - The Blessed Life. I have to tell you that many people have told me what a powerful effect this has had on their life. The Word of God does do that to us - doesn't it. So I will see you at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. (9:30 for Elevate 1 - Wired for Worship) But why would I say that I am blessed? That's simple. When I live by God's will - I don't have to live by man's opinion. I am released from a lot of guilt and condemnation when I do that. I am blessed enough to believe - that my marriage and family exist because God willed it. That family is great - not because I say so - but because God says so. I am blessed enough to believe - that God has a plan and a hope for FFWC! That this church is AWESOME - and I do love this church! I am blessed enough to believe - God is my champion - my fortress - my deliverer. That no plan against me shall prosper. I am blessed enough to believe - That praising God is better than griping and

That's right - it's called Tebowing - When Tim Tebow scores - he takes a knee and prays. Now for most of us who pray - we thank God for that. But now it is turning into a internet craze. You can go here to tebowing.com and discover it for yourself.

We live in the most depressed, pessimistic culture ever in the history of mankind. We have never felt so bad about our future than we do right now. Just about the time that we think things can't get any worse, well . . . That's why we need to praise God. Praising God is VERY important to us as Christians. The Bible tells us to give Him thanks, it tells us to worship Him and that we are praise Him. Hebrews 2:12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." (NIV) Praise messes with everything that isn't designed to praise and honor God as King of all kings. (READ THAT AGAIN) This world doesn't recognize or honor God. Our praise really confuses them. Satan isn't going to honor God. So our praise really messes with his plans against us. Praise elevates us in the presence of God. That messes with our depressed idea about ourselves and our lives. Praise is going to demand that we giv

Last Sunday, I have to say, was one of the most powerful services I had been in a long time. But why was that? #1 - Two of our praise and worship leaders had just come back from a powerful conference. When you are in the presence of God before you come to church - it really BLESSES you. #2 - We had reached out to hundreds of children and thousands of people with the message that God loves them and that we do to! - Anytime that you show love - it really BLESSES you. #3 - The Word of God was powerful, redemptive, life changing and empowering. When you come and receive what God has in store for you - it really BLESSES you. #4 - The church, as a whole, had a giving attitude. We gave through worship, prayer, fellowship and fiscally. Giving is very powerful - it really BLESSES you. #5 - People were praying before church about what was going to happen in church. Prayer really BLESSES you. So preparing to worship before you worship - giving - prayer - ministry - outreach and the Word o

Today was an AWESOME day at FFWC! Elevate 1 is really getting better and better each week. The conversation is great and what we are learning in Wired for Worship is really making a difference. I am looking forward to next months - Solving Lifes Problems Morning Worship Praise and Worship was powerful God really touched some peoples lives. I haven't felt this kind of freedom to minister here in a long time! God is changing our hearts and that is changing our church. Praise the Lord This weekends Palm City Fall Festival was a GREAT success. We got to meet LOTS of people, minister to some - tell others about who we are. We really did see God so some great things. Youth service tonight was extremely lively. As usual. This week we talked about Angels. Next week we will talk about demons. I thought that would be appropriate on Halloween weekend. Looking forward to this week and seeing you soon!!

Matthew 24:4 - 8 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. Earthquakes in Texas and California? Wars in the Middle East? Dictators toppled? What's next? Fear in how and what happens in our world day to day can and will steal your faith and cause doubt in your mind. The reason is simple. Satan wants to scare the daylights out of you! Fear is a powerful manipulator - but it is a lousy motivator. That's why you need to reread Matt. 24. How does Jesus start his passage? “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and wil

My friend Deanna Shrodes over at deannashrodes.com shared these stats the other day about ministers. 70% of pastors don't have a close friend. 1700 pastors leave the ministry for good, every month. 70% of pastors constantly fight depression. 90% of pastors work between 55-75 hours a week. 70% say they have a lower self worth now than when they entered the ministry. 40% of pastors report having a serious conflict with a church member at least once a month. 50% of all ministers starting out will not last five years. Only one out of every ten ministers will actually retire as a minister in some form. 94% of pastors' families feel the pressures of the pastor's ministry. 80% of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose a different profession. Because I talk to pastors and ministers every week - I can tell you that the above it absolutely true. But what can you do about it? - Because your pastor is a target for Satan's plans - pray that God will protect your pasto

The low tonight here in South Florida will be 58 degrees. I've told people that they only way you can know that it's fall here is when you see college football. So what does this fall have to offer, besides some cooler temps? THIS FRIDAY - Prayer and Pancakes. Come help us pray and prepare for Saturdays. THIS SATURDAY - Palm City Festival - A great day to meet and minister to the people of Palm City. THIS MONTH - The Blessed Life. - Discover how to live a God filled blessed life. NOVEMBER - 30 Steps to God. What can you do to get closer to God? THANKSGIVING SUNDAY - Our annual celebration that kicks off the holiday season. You don't want to miss out on an excellent turkey dinner. DISCIPLESHIP INTENSIVE - Are you hungry for more of God? Then you want to do this! YOUTH CONVENTION - Last year they went to Orlando and worshipped with 2,000 other youth. This year - 4,000!!! CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE - We help anywhere from 10 - 20 families a year with their Christmas. Can y

I know I run the risk of appearing selfish by writing this - but I have discovered over the years that peoples perceptions of what pastors do and how they live varies - wildly! So here are a few questions you need to ask before you make any assumptions. How does the pastor get paid? Does their denomination or fellowship pay their salary? Do they work outside of the church? Are they surviving on their spouses income? Does the church pay them? What are the pastors personal expenses? Do they have health insurance? Do they have a retirement account? Do they have to be seriously concerned about their income? Does your pastor get a paid vacation? Do they get a day off each week? Do they get a cost of living raise each year? Does the church provide for them opportunities to attend seminars or receive continuing education? Does your pastor take advantage of a some tax breaks afforded by the IRS? It saves them money! Here are a few assumptions that you need to discard in regards

I know that a pastor talking about Pastor Appreciation Day seems a little self serving. However, so many of you read my blog in order to stay up to date with FFWC - I felt that I needed to at least say something. THIS SUNDAY IS PASTOR APPRECIATION DAY AT FFWC!! The reason why I bring this up is simple. One of the reasons why I am blessed is because I have a church family that loves me and my family. True, this family is always changing as people come and go for various reasons. Just like any of our families, we're not perfect - but we do love, accept and forgive each other - as best as we can. This Sunday is going to be great day and I hope to get to see you there!

One of the things that many people don't understand about being blessed is that it requires you to be a blessing. As author and pastor Robert Morris says. "We give to give, we don't give to get." In other words we desire to be a blessing more than we want to be blessed. Odd, I know. But as Christi Brummitt said last night in the Marriage Enrichment Seminar - "When you focus on giving to your spouse, then your selfish need to receive has to fade away." Let's put it another way - you are happier when you give. (FYI - you missed a AWESOME marriage seminar yesterday!) We don't live in a giving culture. Oh we do community service - we want to be greener and safer. We want to stamp out poverty. Make quality health care available to everyone. We want to make sure every child has a toy for Christmas and more. But that doesn't make us givers!! Are you thinking, "What do you mean?" Why do you give? What makes you a genuine giver? Giv

Worthiness to a Christian is a bit of an odd thing. It takes a complete rewire of your brain in order to understand it. That's because the world we live in teaches us the complete opposite of what God teaches us. We think that we are worthy to receive something because we earned it. For example, you work all week at your job, you deserve your paycheck. That's simple and correct. But when we try to apply this kind of thinking to our relationship with Jesus - well it just doesn't happen. There is nothing that we can do to deserve what we receive from Him. Now before you throw up your hands and quit, let's walk through this. First you need to understand how much trouble you were or are in (if you haven't fully entrusted Jesus with your life and asked Him to forgive you of your sins). Before we asked Jesus into our lives, there was nothing that we could do (including die) to receive forgiveness of our sins. Only the shedding of innocent blood can do that. Bu

How do you measure if God is first in your life? Not that easy is it. I can tell you from experience that I have thought that I was putting God first, only to find out that is wasn't. Putting God first is a DAILY choice. If you don't make it, something else will choose to take God's place for you. Believe me - it happens every time. Just because we believe in God doesn't mean that we put Him first. Just because we go to church doesn't mean that we put Him first. When we CHOOSE to put Him first is when we put Him first. I know, to simple isn't it. But just because you go to a football game doesn't mean you like football. But the guy in the front row, who has painted his body the colors of his team. Who is standing on his chair, rooting for his team - well you can tell he made a choice, didn't he? No your family isn't going to be neglected, nor is your career going to be destroyed. But life will be put into perspective. That which was imp

Last weeks sermon was about putting first things first. I have heard many people say that they put their marriage and their family first. I have even heard some so honest as to say that they put their job or favorite pass time first. Well, OK But God commanded us to put Him first - before everyone else and especially ourselves. Does that make you bristle? Seem kind of selfish? Well let's remember a few things. - God already gave His Son to DIE first before He knew whether or not you would even trust Him and ask for His forgiveness. - Jesus already paid the price for your sins, redeeming you from an eternity in hell. Doesn't sound very selfish to me. In one of the 10 commandments God says that we will not idolize anything in place of Him. What we are talking about here is a non negotiable. God isn't interested in being first, part time (Is that possible?) He will be first - full time! Is God first in your day? Is God first in your family? Is God first in your attitu

Tomorrow we kick off the The Blessed Life series at Faith Family Worship Center at 10:30 a.m. Elevate 1 is at 9:30 a.m. and we are starting Wired for Worship. If you want to connect to God in a real way, you will enjoy this - A LOT! Someone asked me once, "Why is it so hard to live a Blessed Life?" Well here are a few thoughts. 1) We assume that blessing = easy. Never, anywhere is it ever declared that blessing = easy. 2) We don't know what a blessing is - therefore we are chasing the wrong thing or ever worse - nothing. 3) Counterfeit competition. This world offers you a lot of options that are nothing more than counterfeits of God's blessings. 4) Assuming. We assume that the way we think it should go is they way it will go. Wrong! Discover more about living a blessed life this Sunday and through the whole month of October. I can tell you that each Sunday is a new revelation of how God can be even more real in your life everyday.