God’s love must pour into my life, or I will cease to have any love to share with others. Humans are not very deep wells for love, and human love is not all that great compared to God’s love. “We love because He first loved us” is what we are told. (1 John 4:19)

That’s the hard part about being a pastor, you do a lot of pouring out–and if God’s not pouring in, you dry up.

Here’s a simple description of what I do to make sure I’m being poured into:

1. Bible Reading – I’ve got a YouVersion reading plan that I read at least 5 days a week. (Two days are blank each week) Maybe its just me, but reading on a screen is easier than reading a printed Bible, and I always have the plan with me on my phone, for times when I don’t get near a computer. HOWEVER, I can get lazy and just check off the list if I’m not careful. So i make it a discipline to write out my thoughts on a few verses every couple of days. I even share my thoughts with the public via YouVersion’s notes system: https://www.youversion.com/users/patrick_fowler1/notes
2. A Simple Devotional Thought – I read a quarter page devotional the moment I wake up each day–it’s called the daily bread. Its free in print, its available on all the smartphones, and its pretty good. It’s one way that I read someone else’s minisermon or thoughts from Scripture each day. It gets me thinking about God from the first moment of my day–which is crucial for me.
3. Reading– I get a TON out of books, so I always have at least 2 books in progress at any time. I read a random group of books. Some on how to do ministry, some fun fiction books, and some devotional books by authors like my favorite, the great Max Lucado. Currently I am reading Lucado’s Cast of Characters and Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and they are both phenomenal.
4. Prayer–I’m not a great prayer, but I take one day each week and REALLY pray for the needs of the people I know. I start the day by meeting a prayer group at a local church–something I found out about randomly. These guys get me in a spirit of prayer and teach me to pray by how they do it. They also keep me from sleeping in on Tuesdays. Then I pray for a while on my own. It makes me much more attuned to what God’s up to.
5. Relationships – I’ve got a small group that I meet with on Tuesdays, and a few friends I meet with specifically to talk about how I am doing spiritually. Those things keep me grounded. I need someone to look me in the face and ask if I’m doing ok spiritually.
6. Sunday Sermons. Often times I am not able to worship during the standard church services on Sundays. I show up early for setup and stay late for teardown. So what do I do? Haha, I’m lucky. I get the sermon from Chris on Thursdays each week. I get to hear his message and be prayerfully cheering him on as he delivers it on Sundays. By then, I have had to think through it twice. It’s great. And it challenges me to show up on Sunday morning living out what He challenges oneChurch to live out in the days following. Some people accuse Sundays of being shallow…but I have yet to hear a message at oneChurch that I did not need to live better than I did before. I may have heard the message before, but that doesn’t mean I am fully living it out yet. It takes me a few tries to get it. How about you?

Whew, that list sounds really long. All in all, this is my best case scenario plan. Some weeks i can’t meet with others in the regular meetings. Some weeks I get lazy in my reading. Some times I am just plain busy and these things suffer. The key however, is my spiritual life is a priority. I do MOST  of these each week–and God gets to  pour into my life. I love it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The way I see it–this is my most important relationship in life. It deserves lots of time, and the best of my time.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you – Matthew 6:33

Often one of the hardest parts of being a Christian is staying focused, not getting discouraged in your pursuit of Christ. But we’ve got to stay focused…because the best things about the Christian life aren’t available to those who just get by in their spiritual walk…He can only bring deep peace and joy and mission to those who draw close—for reasons we will get to in a moment. In the movie when Sam loses his job and has to sell his bike, we see Sam go back into the old bar, talk to some old friends, and consider turning back. He doesn’t do it…but he is definitely tempted to. We all will be. We all dry up sometimes, sometimes it is are fault, sometimes it is because life hits us hard, etc.

Jesus knew this was the key—and he made sure that he planted a key thought in the minds of his disciples before he died to ensure that they knew it too. They had it easy for 3 years—to interact with Jesus daily, they just had to keep up with Jesus. They practically lived together. And they were full of life—seeing Jesus teach and do miracles every day. But as Jesus approaches the cross, he needs to ensure that they get off autopilot in their walk with God. He’s leaving. And in his wake, he is not only going to leave them alone, he is going to leave them in charge. Thousands of people who will look to the disciples for love and guidance and strength. And in life in general, we will dry up spiritually if we don’t heed his advice too.

Big Idea: A strong relationship with God leads to being on mission with God—God pours love in, and we let it overflow as God breaks our hearts for the needs of this world.

The Gospel of John: Chapter 15
3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Check out the sermon manuscript or watch online to see the whole message.

Download the Group Discussion Guide here.
Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a reason why the Bible is printed and reprinted, given away, translated into every language imaginable, and retranslated over and over to increase its clarity. It’s because meeting with God on a personal level is crucial to our spiritual life, and the Bible is the greatest tool available to us for that endeavor.

I have used 365 Day Bibles, Study Bibles, Chronological Bibles, and reading plans from YouVersion in past years. They are all great tools–particularly YouVersion, where I can share key verses and notes with the world via Facebook, Twitter, and https://www.youversion.com/users/patrick_fowler1/notes

When Willow Creek did extensive research on the things that helped people grow in every stage of their spiritual walk, they came back with one single factor that was important in every stage. One “killer app” – reflection on Scripture. If churches could do one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow, the choice is clear: inspire, encourage, equip, and hold their people accountable to reflecting on Scripture for God to speak into their lives.

The First Step:

Often times, the first step is often the hardest, and that’s why I leave you with one simple, key step that will get you into your Bible. There’s a devotional that has been faithfully put out for free for many years that is always easy to read, memorable, and drives you to consider Scripture. The Daily Bread. Its available on every major smartphone, every computer, and in print for free by request from www.obd.org

They even have a podcast you can subscribe to, if you prefer to hear it spoken.

I encourage you that if you aren’t doing anything else, begin reading this. You won’t be disappointed.

I have enjoyed interacting with the Daily Bread recently–and I’ve really enjoyed having others read it along with me. What better way to be encouraged than to read the same thoughts with someone else, and they to be able to call, text, or meet them face to face, saying, “Thursday’s thought really challenged me!”

So when you pick up your copy, pick up a few more, and share them!

We give them away every Sunday at www.onechurch.tv

Church is about so much more than the sermon, and yet so often God uses the power of a speaker and a compelling message to nourish us spiritually. While there is much that can be said about the relationships, the opportunities to serve, the power of worship, and that fact that church is not just a building or what we do on Sunday, this article reminds us that we seek a spiritual “daily bread” not a memorable sermon:

Why go to Church?

A Church-goer wrote a letter to the editor of a  newspaper and complained that it made no sense  to go to church every Sunday.  “I’ve gone for 30 years now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.  But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them at all.  So, I think I’m wasting my time by listening and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving these sermons.”

This started a real controversy in the “Letters to  the Editor” column, much to the delight of the  editor.  It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:  “I’ve  been married for 30 years now.  In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.   But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.  But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed  to do my work.  If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.  Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”

Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

A Jewish Rabbi told me recently that is major shock regarding Christianity came from the fact that we did not react strongly enough to the persecution our fellow believers were experiencing overseas. And it is true–most people have no idea the suffering that other Christians endure today, in other parts of the world. We are hated, despised, falsely accused, attacked, and brutally murdered on a regular basis. This week, a terrible story finally grew large enough to make the news headlines, but these stories are daily occurrences.  Before you dive into the headlines that hit the news, consider looking at www.voiceofthemartyrs.com and learning more about the difficulty that faith in Jesus Christ brings to the lives of millions of people.

Say a prayer for Nigeria when you read this post, its genocide for the Christians in Nigeria right now, they are brutally murdering our brothers and sisters. 50 people were burned after taking refuge at the pastor’s home. Read the full details of the story here…