Thanks for all the prayers this week while I was in Orlando. It was a great conference and the people at FMGMA were wonderful to work with. It was kind of funny. From the moment I got there, I got various apologies for the presence of palm readers and tarot card readers from people, especially after I talked about it in my presentation on Wednesday. I even had people coming up and assuring me that they didn't really believe in all that stuff. Funny...but there was a line at the tarot card readers tables on Tuesday night HA.

I don't often do this but I had to repost a blog by fellow pastor and leader Perry Nobles over in South Carolina. I read his blog pretty regular and, this morning, he nailed it with something that has been on my heart this week. In fact, I just had this conversation with people in my LIFE group last Sunday. This is true for every church, every where. There is a reason that people are turning to other places besides the church to find their hope. Read on and you'll see what I mean...

Yes, as a matter of fact I am excited/pumped/stoked out of my mind…

About the NEXT sermon…

About the NEXT Sunday…

About the NEXT series…

I really don’t believe our church has achieved a fraction of all that God wants us to achieve…

AND that has me excited!

I talk about my excitement a lot…which seems to confuse some pastors. They ask, “why are you always talking about how pumped you are?”

The answer is simple…I AM PUMPED!

Hey pastor…if you want there to be excitement in the seats it has got to begin with some excitement in YOU!

You can’t expect the people you lead to be somewhere that you haven’t already been!

AND…let me be clear about this, the “excitement” can’t be fake…it can’t be manufactured…it’s got to be real, it’s got to come from a WHITE HOT vision from God that absolutely sets your soul on fire!

The way I see it we all have a choice…we can be excited about what God USED to do in our church…OR we can be excited about what we feel like He is ABOUT to do!

And while we should be THANKFUL for all He has done in the past we should not live there!

My advice in regards to how to create excitement…

#1 – Get alone with God

#2 – Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in ways you’ve never seen/experienced before

#3 – Read the book of Acts over and over

#4 – Read the Gospels over and over

#5 – Hang out with people who are on fire (NOT the ones who have fire extinguishers)

#6 – DO NOT APOLOGIZE for your passion…EVER!!! (I would MUCH rather be accused of being too passionate than being apathetic!!!)

The first step to an ON FIRE CHURCH is an ON FIRE LEADER…and with ALL of the power and resources of the Holy Spirit, God’s Word…AND the amazing technology He has given us in today’s world…there is NO EXCUSE why we should not be PUMPED UP about the potential of HIS CHURCH accomplishing SO MUCH MORE than we could EVER imagine!

I know he addresses pastors and leaders here but I really believe this is equally true for every member of every church. If you focus on what God is doing and instead of on what man is NOT doing for you, you'll find your optimism increase and your excitement go through the roof. And that is what draws the world in to hear. Why in the world would you or anyone else want to go to your church if all you ever hear is the whining and bellyaching? Let's focus on what God is up to and raise our expectations as He prepares to do even greater things in His Church. That's worth getting pumped about!!