Here at Living Stones, we have enjoyed an incredible week of corporate intercession and worship. As a pastor, it has been thrilling to see the passion, intensity and numbers of people coming out to seek the Lord and to cry out for both revival in the Church and reformation in the culture.

Why are repentance and prayer such  urgent and appropriate responses at this time in our nation’s history?

Consider the following vital signs given by Jim Black, in his book When Nations Die. He lists the following factors that signal the collapse of a civilization. Do any look familiar?:

1.      Increase in lawlessness

2.      Loss of economic discipline

3.      Rising bureaucracy

4.      Decline in education

5.      Weakening of cultural foundations

6.      Loss of respect for traditions

7.      Increase in materialism

8.      Rise in immorality

9.      Decay of religious belief

10.  Devaluing of human life

On my scorecard, we got a perfect 10/10. Unfortunately, in this game, like golf, the lower the score the better.

 Our nation desperately needs healing. Only Jesus can provide the answers. But He does so through a pure, powerful, prophetic Church. That’s why I want to encourage you to join us this Sunday as I continue with The Reformation Series. For my readers out of the area, please tune in on our podcast at www.lsfc.org.

Hello Everyone!

The month of October was an extremely eventful one for me featuring several conferences, normal ministry responsibilities and a week of vacation with the family! So I’m trying to jump back into the blogging saddle once again.

So here we go…

I had the joy of ministering with my father at a men’s conference in Pittsburgh last month. We had a great time with a dear friend, Rick Paladin, the lead pastor at Word & Worship church. In Pastor Rick’s session, he reminded us of the importance of “defining the win” as we attempt to lead in any setting.

I began to ponder this question for the Church as a whole. What is our “WIN?” Where are we headed and how will we know when we get there? What does winning look like?

Some see winning as merely holding the fort until Jesus returns. For these folks, the goal is simply faithful perseverance to the end.

Others preach a salvation gospel. Winning for them is getting as many people “saved” before the ship sinks.

Still others live with the goal of bringing revival. This includes a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit resulting in salvation, healing and deliverance.

What is your definition of “winning”?

I’d like to suggest that all the views mentioned above – faithfulness, salvation, revival, signs and wonders – contribute to victory, however they are not the  “win.” God has a larger vision in mind. We’ll talk about it in the next blog.