Daryl Strickland

I got an email just a few minutes ago from the fearless one. Here is what it said.

D-

just wanted to let you know that we are alive and well.  we are back in fortaleza for the night and we leave at 4am in the morning.  the trip was absolutely amazing.  we experienced some intense spiritual warfare and saw the kingdom of God advanced in a forceful way.  i had the privilege of baptizing 19 people!  God rocks.

ive got to run.  were off to dinner.  Brazilian steakhouse.  we deserve it.

shoot me some details from this past weekend.  i miss you man.  Thank you for covering for me.  i appreciate you big time.

jeff

Yall get ready. When they get back they are going to be pumped!!!

I saw this on one of the blogs I read (Monday Morning Insight). This is a strong quote and a call to guard against traditions and rituals.

“It may seem inconceivable, but not long ago the job of church growth consultant did not exist. In fact, church growth seminars and dying churches were virtually unheard of. Although most churches were essentially in plateau, there was a sense of the church as a place of permanence and stability. You just hung your sign outside, and the appropriate parishioners found their way there. The primary role of the pastor was caretaker/teacher, and many times even the role of evangelist was left to someone who came from out of town.

“One could almost predict the development of the Master of Divinity degree as the religious equivalent to the M.B.A. Seminaries began to produce what local churches perceived they needed; godly men who had a professional understanding of theology, pastoral care, and management. Pastors were valued for their ability to bring and keep order rather than for their ability to bring and lead change. The reality was that pastors were being equipped to preserve the past rather than create the future. We became known for being traditional rather than transformational. The ritual replaced the radical.”

Wow! Hot Potato!

I had to get a new phone a few weeks ago because my flip phone decide to become a convertible. I try to stay low key on my gadgetry desires but I am definitely into cool stuff. So, my new phone is Samsung Blackjack and I am digging it big time.

I now have on my hip, my entire calendar for the whole year, access to all my email, favorite blogs, the latest news and sports, my task list, important date reminders and the list goes on and on. I even have a converter program that will help me convert any currency, measurement, anything to anything. Tell me you don’t need that in your life. And before the month is out this thing will be opening my garage door and taking out my trash.

Anyway, I had to share. This little guy is making my life easier. Oh yeah it makes and recieves phone calls to!!

I was reading in Colossians 4:2-6 this moring and this is what it said:

2-4Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don’t forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I’m locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I’ll be able to make Christ plain as day to them. 5-6Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

Paul was such a trip. He is in jail and he still has a grateful heart and is looking (excitedly) for opportunities to tell people about Christ.

This morning we had men’s prayer and our focus was on two things. First, thanking God for all that He is, He Does and He is going to do. This time was awesome. We talked about all the new people that are serving at Lifepoint. We talked about all the new faces and their stories. We talked about the people that come once and imediately invite someone to come back with them. We talked about broken people that are being, restored. We talked about people that are getting through to their neighbors and coworker. It was awesome.

The second thing we did is focus our prayers on taking ground. We know God is big, we know He can do anything so let’s go out front and pave the way with prayer. Here is where you can join in. We feel like God is getting ready to take some serious ground in Wilmington, Brazil, West Virgina and Boliva. God is getting ready to do some serious things relationally at Lifepoint. Even this weekend will be special. Join us in praying that everywhere we step our foot, that God has gone before us and that 2007 will be as fruitful a year as we have ever seen. We are trusting God to reach 1000 people in 2007. That’s your neigbors, your family members, your friends and co-workers.

So with your eyes wide open, your minds alert and your hearts grateful, pray some BIG prayers and lets go for it together!

Do you believe that in your life? In your ministry? In your business? Do you believe something BIG is about to happen and it’s good? I was listening to one of my favorite all time messages this morning. It is TD Jakes talk at the C3 Conference and it’s called The Ten Commandments of Christian Leadership. If you are a Christian and you are in any type of leadership position this is a must have (I think you can buy and download it from creativepastors.com). I may cover what the ten are in another post but this is what God spoke to me this morning (and this talk is so good I listen to it monthly).

I heard loud and clear that:

• It does not matter where you are right now, it matters where you are going.
• Greatness is within you not around you (think on that one for a while).
• You need to surround yourself with people who - line up with the vision, feel the flow and who are connecting with you.
• Something is about to happen (so I thought… I should get ready!)

I’ll give you more later, I promise!

I know you are probably tired of reading post about 24 already but how do they make 60 minutes seem like 15. I wait a whole week and then bam it’s over. It’s like standing in line at Carowinds for 45 minutes and the ride is exhilarating but it’s over in 45 seconds.

Can you believe that dude is Jack’s brother? What’s next? Is Nina still alive? Maybe David Palmer isn’t really dead either. These guys have the best creative team on the planet (okay second best, ours is the best).

I met this guy at church Sunday that I have seen before but it was the first time that I have gotten a chance to speak to him. He is in his early 2o’s. He is originally from Austin (He knows good food). He is a Marine. He drives from Jacksonville each week to go to Lifepoint . That’s 60 miles one way. He comes by himself. He told me that he saw our church in Relevant Magazine and that’s why he checked us out.

I was totally inspired as I talked to him. This guy is serious about God and serious about life. He said he is going to be deployed in April. I am praying for you man and I am excited about how God is going to use you throughout your life.

Thanks for taking the time to talk on Sunday. You made my day.

I am on the meaningful relationship kick right now so let me tell you about one of my newest freinds. His/Her??? name is Google Reader. I am so into blogs right now and this thing saves me so much time. Jeff introduced me to it about a month ago and I can’t imagine doing life without it now.

You can download it for free if you have a google login and what it does is check your favorite blogs sites and lets you know (audibly and visually) when there is a new post. Saves you tons of time (no more going site to site to site). I think Google has more pull that W. It would be pretty close if Apple and Google were running for office.

Update: You know what is better than google reader? Google Reader Mobile. Through using the Personlized Google page I can read all my favorite blogs on my phone. Can life get any better (I submit that it can not).

I know pastor appreciation is supposed to be in like October or something but I am celebrating it this week. Jeff (my pastor , my friend and my boss) is in Brazil for ten days and I am definitely learning to appreciated him more. Which plays into this new series we are doing very well.

The new series is about meaningful relationships and how important they are. Here is a good example. The Lifepoint Team was slamming again yesterday which is awesome because we had some really key people missing. When it was all over I was looking around for Jeff to give him a high five(no disrespect to any of the rest of the team, that’s just who I look for after the deal) and I didn’t see him this week. When we are in meaningful relationships with people, that’s what happens. When we fall down, they are there. When things are rocking, they are there. When you are out of whack, they are there (putting you back in whack - that would make a good song title “Back in Whack”).

I also appreciate what he does more because I got to do it last week. Talking to people on behalf of God is an honor and is a huge task. It is definately not your run of the mill duty and if you love God and love people it is hard to sleep until you are sure that you have tapped into what He wants you to say to them and you have given your best efforts to seek this out and prepare. I am thankful for the reminder that He is good at this and that is what God has made him to do and I am made for what I do.

Happy Pastor Appreciation Week Boss! (I totally expect a raise after this post)

We start a new series at Lifepoint this weekend and the title of this one is Blend. I really can’t express how excited I am about this one. For four weeks we are going to cover a big part of God’s dream and plan for our lives. We will discover that a life that is blended is far better that one that is not.

As I am reading some scripture this morning that is related to the message this weekend I am overwhelmed at God’s love for us and I am perplexed at how He keeps His heart from exploding (a good kind of explosion). I don’t want to give to much away but read John 17 over and over and see what you get out of it.  See if you can sense the love that Jesus has for you and me and keep in mind that He is days away from the cross during this prayer.