by Ross Middleton

As I’ve gotten a little older and more mature in my relationship with God, its interesting to me the things that seem to begin to change theologically and methodologically in my life. Fear not I’m not a heretic now, just subtle things.

One of the things I’ve noticed changing in my heart over the last few years is the desire to just go for it. I think I used to play it safe cause I was scared to fail. But at this point in my life, and I might recant this statement when I’m older and wiser and have even less hair than I already do, but what I mean by that previous statement is simply this: If there is a dream that God has placed in your heart, just go for it, do it! If you fail, at least you won’t regret not trying.

I think more people will regret what they did not do rather than what they did do in many circumstances in their life.

What I think we have to balance in our lives, is what is God calling me to do and what is my desire. I’m not saying that we should run out on a whim and leave all our responsibilities for someone else to worry about, but we can make an exit plan if we feel God calling us to do something.

Many times I think our desires are our callings. Those things that God begins to stir in our hearts are the seedlings of  a calling in our lives.

If you are thinking about embarking on an adventure, just go for it! Give yourself 2-3 years to try something different and just do it, reality is 2-3 years will go by in the blink of an eye and in the span of our lifetime is almost nothing.

Ross Middleton is an Every Nation campus director in Florida State University, Tallahassee and is the author of  Collide Leadership.

by Dennis Sy

One of the worst things that could happen to a pastor on a sunday worship service is if his preaching was not what he expected it to be – in simple terms “it sucked!”
I’ve been preaching for more than 10 years and to to tell you honestly I have had my huge share of bad preaching. During the early days of my youth ministry stint, I could see people snoring, sleeping and dreaming while I was preaching.
I remember Howard Hendricks say “It is a sin to bore your people with the Bible” so I strive hard to improve my skills.
With prayer, practice and PREPARATION, I started getting the groove (sorry couldn’t think of a spiritual term, but you guys get what I’m saying)
Last Sunday was a tough one. I was tired the whole week and was absent from church last week because my wife gave birth to our 2nd daughter, Mikaela, who is so beauiful!
I preached an insightful challenging message at the 4pm but felt like i did not connect. I’m not sure if it was me or the crowd but after the service, Pastor Chinkee approached me and we kind of tweaked the message a little bit.
After that Pastor Lee also gave some suggestions on how I could improve on my message. I am just thankful for the team who had the guts to tell me something was wrong with my message. I did some more consultations from some of our leaders and got to fix the message for the 6pm service.

Some insights for the clueless preachers out there:

1. Run your message for that day to someone. I usually practice in front of my wife so she could evaluate the message. That week we were not able to do that.
2. PREPARATION. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to anoint you.
4. Keep it simple. Don’t have too many points. I think I had so many points last Sunday and was not able to give a take home point or ONE BIG IDEA for the crowd.
5. Get feedback and be secure about it.

Dennis Sy is the pastor of the brand-new Victory Greenhills church. He authors the diary of a Clueless Church Planter.

by Ron Miller, Jr.

O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Psalm 64:8

Like jars of clay, we are made very specific by God to know Him and enjoy Him forever. A jar is a container and a container is created to be filled with something. We are made to be filled, and what we should be filled with is the knowledge of the glory of God. Anytime we seek knowledge, relationship, or pleasure outside of God’s will for our lives, we become addicts in our vain attempt to find meaning and fulfillment.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 says, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

According to a recent Time Magazine article by Michael D. Lemonick titled “How We Get Addicted”, as species wired for survival, we have an odd habit of getting hooked on things that can kill us. “Addictions,” says Joseph Frascella, director of the division of clinical neuroscience at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “are repetitive behaviors in the face of negative consequences, the desire to continue something you know is bad for you.”

Jesus taught that we have an enemy who comes to deceive us and tempt us to participate in activities that will destroy our lives. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “The devil comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Addictions in America change over time. Here’s a look at what substance and behavior addictions have us hooked on today. (Time Magazine, July 16, 2007)

18.7 million people, or 7.7% of the population, are dependent on or abuse alcohol, and 12,000 more try it for the first time every day. Alcoholics Anonymous has over 2 million members.

An estimated 3.6 million people are dependent on drugs. On average, 8,000 try them for the first time each day, and 700,000 are undergoing treatment for addiction.

There are about 71.5 million users of tobacco products in the U.S. About 23.4% of men and 18.5% of women are cigarette smokers.

Caffeine is the most widely used mood-altering drug in the world and is routinely ingested by about 80% to 90% of Americans, primarily through soda and coffee.

An addiction to food affects as many as 4 million U.S. adults and is strongly linked to depression. About 15% of mildly obese people are compulsive eaters.

Two million American adults, or 0.67% of the population, are thought to be pathological gamblers, wagering heedless of the consequences. An additional 4 to 8 million are considered problem gamblers.

At least 1 in 20 Americans is a compulsive shopper, according to a Stanford University study. Cultural factors, like advertising’s emphasis on the happiness products can bring, are thought to fuel addictive buying.

About 16 million Americans suffer from compulsive sexual behavior, the least understood of all addictions. A third are women; about 60% of all sex addicts were abused in childhood.

Like compulsive gambling, Internet addiction is thought to be an impulse-control disorder that can disrupt social relationships.

Wow, maybe this research reveals that the devil is real and Jesus knows what He is talking about.

Ron Miller, Jr. is a gym rat who blogs regularly at Gym Chats. He is a husband, father, artist and musician stuck in an athletic body, and the senior pastor of Every Nation, Tallahassee.