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Some would say that Deflate-Gate is one of the stupidest sports controversies to ever surface! If you missed it or this headline is foreign to you, here's the skinny. There are allegations that the New England Patriots used game balls that were under-inflated during the AFC Championship Game. Eleven out of twelve balls were under inflated by two pounds. How bizarre, how crazy, of all the things to talk about in the world. The consensus is that unless there is a video of someone actually inserting a needle removing air, we will really never know what happened or who is responsible for Deflate-Gate. Yet the media and everyone in and outside the sports world continues to talk about Deflate-Gate. Did anyone miss the final score of the AFC Championship Game? The score was the Patriots 45-7 over the Colts. Colts Dwayne Allen said this on twitter about Deflate-Gate "They could have played with soap for balls and beat us. Simply the better team. We have to continue to build!...

How many times have you said “I don’t have TIME!” TIME for _______ (you fill in the blank) or “If I only had more TIME to_______” TIME is of the essence, TIME keeps on ticking. Our life seemingly is all about TIME. Looking at God’s Word there are a couple of ways that we see TIME referenced. There is the Greek root “Chronos” that is the tick-tock-you-don’t-stop time, days, years. This is the way most of us think about TIME. There is another word that is used, another way TIME is referenced, another way to think about it that just may bring new perspective. The word in Greek is “Kairos” and this reference to time is all about seasons and the right timing or God’s timing. We see this in the Apostle Paul’s writing to the church in Corinth: And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—2 for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now i...

Studying the book of Nehemiah has caused me to ask this question: What if the book of Nehemiah is really a parodox of the family of God?   The book of Nehemiah has been taught in many and various ways.  I have never heard the story of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem as a reflection of what God wants for families that are seeking to live for Jesus or those struggling because of the enemy's ravaging attacks on their family.  Yet that's exactly what I see when I read this rebuilding process.  Maybe you are reluctant and think that families are faring pretty well these days.  As a pastor of “the least of these” let me assure you that unfortunately, that is not the case for the average family in America.  Families in America are under attack and unfortunately, the enemy seems to be gaining ground on his attack on the family.  Look at just a few of revealing statistics regarding families in America: 50% of marriages in America will end in divorce. 8.8 years is the average le...

How Do You Love Your City? This is the question we have been asking our church LakePointe. We’ve been talking about how to love the city we live in as a community of believers. The discussion has taken us to Matthew 25 . We realize something that changed our mindset. The fact that “we are the least of these,” and as “the least of these” we are to be out reaching to the “least of these” that are still out there! To understand put yourself in Jesus story as the “I” and put Jesus in as the “YOU.” Also, look at the physical needs that were met in the narrative and see how it plays out with these as spiritual needs: 35 “For I(insert your name) was (spiritually) hungry, and you(JESUS) fed me(the bread of life). I was (spiritually) thirsty, and you (JESUS)gave me a drink(from waters where I would never thirst again). I was a stranger(estranged, lost spiritually), and you(Jesus) invited me into your home(a relationship with Him, His church). 36 I was naked,(not clothed in righteous...

GOD’S POLITICS These are my thought's on politics originally from a guest post that I was asked to do for a leadership organization LCEF: I love politics! I hate politics!  Where do you fall in the previous two statements?  Are you worn out from all the mudslinging? Glad the commercials and debates are over? How are you feeling now, post-election?  What song are you singing?  Is it: “It’s the end of the world as we know it...”  or is it “Celebration time, come on, let’s celebrate!”?  Maybe a better question is: what are the people you find around you singing?   Something that has hit me like a ton of bricks is the truth from God’s word concerning politics.  God is concerned with our world, He’s not a distant once-was god but is an: everlasting, always will be, always has been, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, all powerful, with us GOD!  As surprised as you or I may have been or not been, God wasn’t surprised at the election results.  It didn’t shock Him, and He isn’t ...

The aftermath of Easter means different things to different people. If you are a pastor then you are likely to be in the after-glow of what God did in your services and you saw new faces and plenty of old faces return. Maybe there were people that you were praying would come but didn’t. Maybe you set new attendance records or maybe it was just another Sunday. From what I have seen pastors are typically excited and a bit worn out at the same time after Holy Week and Easter celebrations. I know that many churches add extra services for more people to attend throughout Holy Week and Easter. If you are not a pastor it probably meant you had to hunt harder for a parking spot if you went to church or if you went out to eat you had longer lines at Crackle Barrel. Here's what I experienced: At LakePointe we had 5 worship opportunities adding 3 additional worship experiences than we normally would have. We were excited about the people that God would bring through the doors of La...

TOP 5 WAYS TO BE SURE YOU WON’T HAVE THE MARRIAGE OF YOUR DREAMS 1. Stop Communicating With Your Spouse! Talk about them not to them, and give them the silent treatment as much as possible! It’s best if you can yell something unrecognizable at them and storm out of the room. If you need help watch a five year old do it and be sure to be animated like them! 2. Stop Listening To Your Spouse! See #1 add, quit taking their call, and responding to their text message’s, un-friend them on FaceBook so they can’t see what you’re up to with your friends. Avoid being in the same room with them at all costs. 3. Always Assume The Worst About Your Spouse! Never give them the benefit of the doubt, stand under the motto “they are guilty until they can prove they innocent!” Be sure to second guess everything they say even if it sounds reasonable--watch old reruns of People’s Court or Judge Judy for more ammo accusatory phrases! 4. Focus On What Your Spouse Does Wrong. In fact k...

Do you have influence? In order to answer the question you must first look at the word defined: influence |ˈinfloŏəns| noun the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself : the influence of television violence | I was still under the influence of my parents | their friends are having a bad influence on them. • the power to shape policy or ensure favorable treatment from someone, esp. through status, contacts, or wealth : the institute has considerable influence with teachers. • a person or thing with such a capacity or power : Frank was a good influence on her. • archaic Physics electrical or magnetic induction. You do indeed have influence. The question is who are you influencing and how? If you are like me and have children you are influencing them for sure. Ever see your child do or say something you wished they hadn't only to realize they learned (were influenced) by you? I have heard it sa...

When was the last time you saw someone who was in need? What did they look like? What did they need? Where were they? What was the circumstance? Take a few minutes to capture the detail of what happened and your reaction... Now read the story in Matthew 25:31-40 . It’s obvious that Jesus is teaching the people about the “end times”, what it will be like when the King, Jesus himself, returns. As he describes how the people of the world will be separated into two groups: the blessed and the cursed, or the sheep and the goats, Jesus is also teaching us about obedient love. The first group of people Jesus describes are the ones “blessed by my Father in heaven”, or the sheep. They are about to receive their inheritance (heaven) that the Father has been preparing since the creation of the world. (imagine how crazy awesome that will be?) Then something interesting happens: Jesus begins to speak about the things that the “righteous ones” were doing with their lives--what their lives ...

John 8:32(ESV) and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” I love this time of year, when we come together as a country to celebrate the gift our forefathers fought and paid for with their own life and blood--our American freedom. You will see people waving and high-fiving, sharing fireworks displays with neighbors and friends and united in a crowd of hundreds as they watch the public displays. There is a uniting that freedom has, it brings people together. I truly love fireworks and picnics and time out on the lake ,but my favorite 4th of July tradition is the Annual LakePointe on the Lake Worship Service & Baptism Bash! This is the fourth year we have held this event where we have a worship service out on the lake and invite the community to come and join us. This year we had free food for the community. We ended up feeding over 500 people BBQ and the trimmings and also raised money and support for a local charity, Stomp Out Hunger, by taking donati...

It's been about 3 weeks since the 2nd Annual Spa City Stomp Out! This is the second time LakePointe Church has hosted this MMA Fight in Hot Springs, AR. Last year through this event we handed out 4 cases of Bibles and had an opportunity to pray with many families. We saw many people, including several fighters, begin to follow Jesus that day! It was a no- brainer when we had the opportunity to host the event again this year. The big difference, as our team recapped this event, was that we would be more prepared for those who needed prayer and didn't have a Bible. Last year we were prepared for people who would come drunk, high, or just ready to pick a fight. The only person we had to escort off the premise was some guy who was slamming people over the head with his Bible telling them that they were going to hell! A turn or burn talk, which we don't condone. When this man was asked to leave by one of our pastors, letting him know we had the teaching covered, he wo...

The title of this blog may seem quite normal until you see the picture that goes with it. On St. Patricks Day in Hot Springs Arkansas we have a festival downtown where there is the Worlds Shortest Parade and then Pub Crawl that follows. This year we handed out 5000 beads all with a card that told them about Jesus loves for them and inviting them to check out LakePointe if they don't have a church home. We had another crew handing out helium balloons and invites. Then after the parade was over we handed out 1000 shot glasses with "Give God a Shot!" on them to the local bars. The response was pretty amazing! LakePointe's Intern Pastor Ben and I went into a local bar called Maxine's (after getting pre-approval from the owners previously we were welcomed with open arms…literally!) At Maxine's we had some great conversations with people. The whole point was to just love people where they were at, in our team meetings before the event we talked about how we...

We talked about GREED yesterday and how it is this intense selfish desire of wanting more. The desires take over our hearts and minds and cause us to get lost chasing the "things" from "StuffMart." I received an email where someone gave me this definition for GREED: "get all you can, can what you get, and sit on your can." That certainly falls in line with what Jesus was talking about in Mark 14:3-11 with the Foolish Rich man. It is evident that "In Greed He Trusted!" Today, studying the book of Numbers I'm wondering if there isn't a more subtle GREED that plagues our lives, especially those who are following Jesus? I've read the story before, as I'm sure you have too, in Numbers 20 where Moses faces the grumbling people of God again for the umpteenth time. It seems like they have run out of things to complain about so they are back to an old complaint of no water. Moses and Aaron do the right thing in crying out to G...

Read Romans 11 before proceeding and you will understand the heart behind this excerpt. I think that it's interesting that we look around often and wonder if anyone else is "in it to win it." By that I mean is anyone else following Jesus? I know that there are churches full on Sunday across the city, state, nation, but is anyone really following Jesus? Now at first glance that might sound brash or even prideful but that is not the point. Have you ever felt like Elijah? Have you ever wondered where are all the Christians at? Why aren't more people helping to feed the homeless? Why are there not more willing to visit prison and jail? Why are there not more that are looking not just to help fellow man but actually share the love of Jesus with them? Then the flip side is there is so much pain and heartache, there is such a focus on things that don't matter but yet take so much of our time and energy and resources. This past week has brought many reminder...

Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Our team is reading through Matthew this month correlating the day of the month with a chapter. I just read Matt 4 & 5 as I watched the snow fall to the ground. I know that we are not at chap 5 yet call me an overachiever but with everything happening in the Middle East particularly Egypt (which is now only Christian ally of The United States ) it seems the following verses really apply to us today: Salt and Light 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others,...

Today I was doing my reading plan as I read through the Bible one of the verses from today hit me hard. This post is primarily for men but I do think it applies to women too. Stop and read Proverbs 6 . Verses 20-35 are ones that we as men must heed with great weight. I have seen so many pastors, friends, and followers of Jesus get trapped by adultery. It is a tactic that our enemy uses with great success and part of it really has to do with the "worldview" of sex and relationships. It's easy to see the beer commercials on tv not to mention Victoria Secret and laugh about it or play it off when in fact they lead our minds to dark places. Men we often simplify lust as "I'm just a man and can't help it!" or "God made me this way." When this is the opposite of what God teaches us. I find it interesting how much Solomon(the wisest man to ever live) would have to say about lusting after women when that would become one of his greatest stru...

Last Sunday I declared that 2011 is going to be a year of growth. Now I'm not talking about trite growth like numbers or masses of people although I do believe that God is going to bring more through our doors because there area many still out there that are far from God that we will continue to reach out. The growth I am talking about and believe God is going to do is a Spiritual growth and a leadership growth. I know that our Father wants us to draw close to Him and grow our relationship with Him. My challenge on Sunday was to find a reading plan to get into God's word each day and grow closer to Him. Get into a ConnectionPointe group (small groups of people 5-10 that meet at church or in homes throughout the week-call 501.623.4237 for more information about how to get in a CP group) where you will be around other brothers and sisters that are going on this journey with you and grow together! Here is what our LakePointe Staff is doing as a reading plan: + We are all...

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. What if...we became encouragers? What if...by God's grace we were able to do this everyday? What if...this "encouraging" was a part of our everyday conversation--wherever we went this was our attitude and focal point for every conversation. What if...we lived life to be a encourager and lift up build people up! What if...it became a thread of our life fabric and we went beyond just a daily thing but it became a moment to moment thing? What if...we searched out ways to be an encourager to our co-workers, spouse, children, friends,...