http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor Lead Pastor Blog Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:51:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After years of being part of churches and around Christians, I have observed a type of Christian (and I'm not sure what drives all this) that has a constant, insatiable hunger for something new or different. Usually, this type of person couches this hidden hunger by saying, “I'm looking for ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=297 “The healthiest exercise of the mind of a Christian is to learn to apprehend the truth granted to it in vision... by prayer and determination we have to form the habit of keeping ourselves soaked in the vision God has given.”  --J. Oswald Sanders The Movie Braveheart documents the life of ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=285 R - Reverence for God, and His leaders E - Enthusiastic for fulfilling God’s purpose S - Sympathetic toward needs of others P - Prompt in all aspects of life E - Economical C - Courage to stand for what is right T - Truthful in all aspects of life F - Faithful in friendship U - Understanding ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=281 A confession – prior to my visit to the Northwest, I was in need of a break.  I was grouchy and discouraged.  (Joel Osteen would not have approved of my disposition).  It is amazing to me how much perspective plays a part of our well being.  And sometimes we need to ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=270 After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, "Abraham!" "Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening." Genesis 22:1 (MSG) One of the paradoxes of life is that testing times are transforming times.  We don’t like them, we may even dread them, and we wish they would go away.  Yet without testing there ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=265 For the past six weekends we’ve been looking at a few Old Testament Characters.  Their lives revealed God is purposeful even when we cannot see it.  God uses ordinary people to accomplish his extra-ordinary plan in surprising ways. We’ve discovered that everyone of them was challenged and tested.  They learned the ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=257 How do you live out the Gospel in life between the world that is and the world that is to come?  How do you live out the Gospel between Sunday morning and the following Saturday night? How do you live out the Gospel in life between cultural engagement and Christian ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=250 Several years ago, a good friend of mine was grieving the loss of his father.  It was a sudden death; the kind you don’t anticipate. He wasn’t sick or suffering from any type critical illness. One day, his dad was alive; the next, he was gone. My friend said to me, ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=241 While I am preparing my message on Samson for this coming Sunday, the significance of grace keeps floating to the surface. The story of Samson’s lapse of judgment is a tragedy of the first order.  From beginning to end there’s not much to applaud. From the beginning God gave Samson everything ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=235 Today I attended the memorial service of James Hill. He was 82 years old. Pastor Greg Youmans lead the service in a way that made each one there feel like they new James personally.  What moved me the most was a tribute by his grandson Matthew.  You could tell Matthew and ... http://desmoinesfirstblogs.org/leadpastor/?p=222