Empty Words

  "Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." Ephesians 4:29 (NLT).

We all communicate. We use body language, facial expressions, and words. Words are powerful! How many times have we heard, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?" Almost everyone agrees this statement is false! We all remember the words that were spoken to us 10+ years ago. The words sting just as much as the first time. Our words can be empty with defeat of filled with life to encourage others. 

God has been chipping away at me, especially in how I use my words to people. Some of the time it is not the words I'm using, but the attitude and heart of what I am saying to my friends, students and my wife. We have tremendous power with our words. We can use opportunities to speak life into others or to tear them down. I have been guilty so many times of using empty words to hurt others because of my own insecurity and self-preservation. Insecurity masks itself as a bold confidence many times. How many times have I used empty words that are filled with defeat rather than victory? My prayer is that my words will give life and grace for people to have hope in Christ. Jesus said, "And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak" Matthew 12:36. We will take an account of our words, we need to be wise in our words.

God has been chipping away at me, especially in how I use words in my prayers. Am I going to Jesus first and worshipping Him every day? Many times I focus on reading my Bible looking for a new message idea, topic or illustration. Instead God is telling me to consume my heart into His heart. Be still. Listen. Stop. Wait. The urge to do more is the tempting response in ministry when we are hurting. Those who are facing the most spiritual warfare and discouragement are the ones on the front of the battle lines. The world teaches that peace is found in surrender to selfishness. Empty prayers are saying "pre-packaged" statements that are filled with tradition. God desires honesty, transparency and humility. God desires a clean and contrite heart.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to go through life with empty words to God and others. Are you using words to build others up or tear them down?

What I learned in Egypt - Church Planting

Egypt is in the middle of a transitional government. Not only that, they are facing social unrest each and every day. Within the storm of the political and social unrest I saw the church standing firm with resolve to spread the gospel of Jesus! In America, we have multiple conferences, books, and seminars on numerous topics. One of those is church planting. We began the process of asking the pastor about his church planting strategy. His response was not what we expected. He had not heard the verbage, "church planting!" It was ironic to hear that the Pastor had already began 10 churches in Egypt. He did not have all of the "jargon" down but he was fulfilling his mission to start churches. In America, we place a huge emphasis upon environments, strategies, and meetings. I agree that they are all important in leadership but simple obedience to God is even better. The vision that the pastor told us was to start a church in every city in Egypt! Talk about a vision! He did not have all the charts, graphs and strategies perfectly laid out but he was starting churches. His vision was to start churches, develop young pastors and help build them up. But, he did not have a "strategy of church planting" book, just a passion to lead the church to multiply! The church should be strategic in all things but never at the cost of putting methodology above the message. The gospel is more important than our strategies, conferences and personal preferences.

Jesus said, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

I'm thankful that God does not base his love for us based on our knowledge or strategies. I'm thankful that God uses us even when we do not have all of the answers. God has begun to show me that His plans are greater than my plans.

Are we relying more on our strategies than simple obedience to God's Word? Are we following the Holy Spirit or our own preferences?

Driving in Egypt

You know what they say, "safety first!" Enjoy the demonstration! (please excuse the filming quality, it was handheld with my iPhone).