I know this may sound harsh. Maybe brash. Probably a little arrogant. But I am tired of simply watching God pass down the street to go somewhere else where the people really want Him. And here’s the deal: I think you are too! I think you are at the point where you realize that God IS going to move, and your prayers are “Lord don’t pass us by.” However, for some reason there seems to be a disconnect between our prayers for revival and God’s move of revival.

The equation for revival is the same as it always has been:

If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves (admit they don’t know everything and need Jesus), and pray (actually talk with God), and seek My face (actually desire a relationship with God more than anything else), and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Church people, how much do you want revival? If it’s more than you want God, you will never experience it!

And yet this morning in my prayer time I was slapped in the face with a thought on the matter. It’s too much for it to be a Facebook or Twitter post, so I thought I would share it here (my blog) – a place I rarely come to anymore. The following is really more of a hodgepodge of thought that seemed to rush over me like a cold chill:

Revival must begin in the local church if it’s going to ever reach into our community. If we are hungry for revival, then we have to be willing to die to ourselves so we can live in and for God. If we desire God to be the “consuming fire” that we sing or sang so loudly with Third Day, then somewhere there has to be a place where we give ourselves to God so He can metaphorically burn away the things that hinder our relationship with Him. There has to be a place where we allow ourselves to be, so that God can shine us to better reflect His light.

I would call this type of place an altar.

I admit, I don’t know a lot about altars. But, the more I read the Scriptures, what little bit I know about altars, and for that matter God consuming what’s on the altar as an offering, is that there has to be something on the altar for the fire to fall. I guess what I’m saying is, if we want the fire of God, to melt away anything and everything that isn’t of Him in our lives then we must become the fuel of God.

I think this is why Paul essentially says he dies daily (1 Corinthians 15), and why Jesus even says we should pick up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9). In other words, for us to be the people we desire to be, we should present ourselves as living sacrifices on our altar to the Lord.

Elijah, one of the most awesome prophets in the Scripture, never asked God’s fire to fall down on the altar until he had loaded his altar up with fuel and a worthy sacrifice. I wonder if we (and I’m including myself here) have been praying for the fire to fall but there’s nothing on the altar. Not to be a smartellic, but I don’t know if fire falls on empty altars.

John Wesley, was once asked how he got so many people to come hear him preach and how he had such a big following during the First Great Awakening. I’ll never forget the response that I read he said, “ I set myself on fire, and the people come to see me burn.” In essence, he places himself on the altar for God to use.

I wonder if revival will only come to our self, family, community, town, city, state, country, and nation, when we place ourselves on the altar, and ask God to do what He wishes. My prayer is that I’ll stay on the altar.

Thoughts? Would love to hear what you think of this…

Psalm 95:1-6 – O Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

LORD, I am thankful for:

1)   My family that you show your love to me through each and every day

2)   My church that is a part of Your Church that shows me the gift of community

3)   My house selling in Tennessee so we will be debt free! WOOHOO!

4)   Old friends and new friends for they continue to show me grace, mercy, and support and build me up for greater service to You.

5)   My B-I-B-L-E, yep it’s the book for me! I can’t imagine how stupid I would be if I didn’t have Your Words to show me wisdom.

6)   Good health so I can be to others an encouragement and support. And so I can take care of my family as I’ve dreamed.

7)   A forgiven past. Thank you God that you continue to redeem me from myself. May I always decrease and you increase.

8)   A BIG AWESOME GRACE FILLED FUTURE WITH JESUS CHRIST FOR ETERNITY!!! There’s no greater joy than the joy I now have knowing my present and my future is protected by your victory!

9)   Oh, and great Thanksgiving food – c’mon! Who doesn’t love Thanksgiving food! Best meal all year! I think I’m going to get Alyson to let us celebrate Thanksgiving at least once a quarter. Who’s with me?!

What are you thankful for?

I hardly get to see them. At best, it seems like I see her family for about 10 days a year. None of us are excited about that. All of us wish it could be more, but that is just how it is. Life has a funny way of catching up with me and keeping me so busy that I just find it hard to get away.

It’s been good to take time to get away.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve worked less, and rested more. Thought less about stuff I should be doing, and more about the wonderful relationships I’m making and growing.

Today, as I continue to reflect on Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the time to mend, begin, and develop relationships.

Proverbs 18:1 says, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”

So far this Thanksgiving season, I’ve worked to mend a relationship, begin a relationship, and develop relationships. And to be completely blunt, I feel so much more thankful this season as I’ve done this. I’ve realized that through relationships I truly am able to see and feel the love of my Heavenly Father.

Prayer: Thank you God for loving me through other people, especially Your Son Whom died on the cross for my sins, so I can have relationship with You, In Jesus Name, Amen.

This Thanksgiving, let someone specifically know that you are thankful for him or her and the relationship you are building.

One of the things I wrestle with is my  tendency to see things from a negative perspective. What this means, is that when someone says something to me, I hear what what they say from a negative slant. Even if the comments are positive, I have to ask someone to point out the positive.

This is a problem. It’s a big problem. I’m working on it. This isn’t how I want to be.

If you’re like me then, then this is how you cure negative thinking: Colossians 3:1-17.

What an awesome reminder to stop looking down and start looking up! We don’t have to look at things negatively because Christ is on the throne and reigning over us. He is for us and not against us! Therefore even if something is meant to be negative, God will make it positive.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

What situations are keeping you down? What is causing you to be negative? Put those things to the side. Christ died for us, so we can have a joyful and abundant life, and not one filled with negativity.

Be positive! God is on the throne!

What a wonderful short surprise.

I pastor a church in the mountains of North Carolina. This is not where I grew up. It is not the culture I received my training. While reading this book, I was reminded that regardless of the type of culture or the type of economical situation you may find your church in, there is one thing that we can all share in common – the ability to get stuck in ministry.

In the past, I have read books that were designed to help ministers take their congregations to new levels of followership, commitment, and service, but didn’t offer practical advice. Literally, in like 20 pages, Tony shares great expert advice on how to come to a ministry realization, and then how to deal with that realization if you are stuck.

Possibly the greatest advice I read, was to cut back on staff. Don’t worry staff, I’m not looking to make cuts.  However, my first instinctive thought on starting something new is always to find someone new to hire.  I think Tony would suggest letting a volunteer handle the role in order to maximize congregation participation. What a novel idea. I don’t know how many times, I have told people they need to plug into their, or a, church. This morning I realized that the issue might not be that our congregations don’t want to plug into the church, but that we haven’t given them the opportunity to.

If you are in leadership at a church, you need to read this short book. If you are not in leadership, you need to print off this book and give it to your pastor. This could be the very thing that motivates and compels your church to be unstuck in its rut.

What is something you have done to get out of the ruts that life can sometimes bring?

The Word of Promise The Gift of Psalms

As a pastor, I read a lot. And I mean a lot. I was impressed with the ease of readability of The Word of Promise The Gift of Psalms. I was able to read the entire book in various breaks throughout two days.

But don’t let this quick read be a deterrent believing it is not packed with valuable information. The phrasing and insight given is not a regular part of my vernacular. The words and insight have brought healing to me, and to many persons in whom I counsel.

My only frustration with the book is that it does not cover all 150 Psalms. There are many wonderful Psalms that the book seemed to overlook or pass off as seemingly unhelpful to the discerning reader. Therefore, I would not recommend this book as a study tool for the Psalms, but I would recommend this book as a way to be introduced to Bible Study.

But after-all, it is only a devotional.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, you can find it here.

On another note: what is your favorite psalm?

Some of you have been so great at encouraging me to write blogs, but to be completely blunt, I don’t know if I have a whole lot to say. To me, I’m boring. Sure, God is teaching me things about life, but I seem to be able to fit those into a Facebook status or a Tweet (Add me on both if you haven’t already!).

Therefore, I am thinking about changing the way I blog altogether. I’m thinking about making my blog a family blog. It would be something that Alyson and I would both write on and work to keep up. That way, you all will have something much more regularly.

A couple questions come to my mind if this is to happen that I would love for you all to help answer:

1)   What do you read and comment on? For instance, I’m not interested in seeing me think, I’m interested in conversation.

2)   What should we call this new blog? (If we pick your name we definitely give you props!)

I’m pumped to hear what you think! Don’t be shy! Go!

Enter here, God’s first book for us to understand life, Genesis.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty (chaos), darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

It may seem as though nothing good could come from chaos, but it does make sense. Before we can recognize and appreciate order, we have to understand disorder. And believe me, if your life is anything like mine, then you understand disorder and chaos.

Lately with the “move” and saying goodbye to friends, life for the Costner’s has been chaotic. Our schedules have been off, our routine has been changing and it will change in the future. And in the midst of all this I’ve truly found peace in the above Scripture. Here’s why: In Hebrews 13, Paul (or whoever you believe wrote Hebrews) is wrapping up his book and encouraging the people. He starts off, “Continue loving one another…” then he says something that is life changing. It’s verse 8, and it says this: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Here’s the deal – If God is the same now as He was long ago, then He is still hovering over the chaos. Nothing has changed. And it won’t ever change.

I am confident that the creation story is a microcosm of what God wants to do in our lives. He hovers over the chaotic situations ready to create order. And if we will let Him, He will create something far more beautiful than we can imagine.

Don’t get down when chaos finds you. Trust God. Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.

The reality for my family and me is that as much as those things are good, I am and have been doing them prematurely. I have realized in my life that just because something may be good to do, doesn’t mean it’s good to do it right now. For instance, it’s good to eat dinner, but not before we wash our hands to rid ourselves of the excessive germs.

To do things prematurely is to do them without full potential. I can meditate, but I’m so tired of all the work that I have been doing, I get sleepy and don’t focus. I can read, but not being able to focus, means I do not really comprehend. I can write, but not comprehending what I’m reading and being out of focus, means my writings are incoherent thoughts (I hope this isn’t one of those!).

There is a remedy though. It’s called a vacation.

A recent survey shows that people should take a vacation every 62 days. To not do so may mean becoming sick, anxious, aggressive, and withdrawn. To take a time-out can mean better health for you, a better family life,  and a happier boss because we are better able to focus on our tasks at hand.

So, my family and I are taking a vacation.

If you are like my family and don’t have much money, here are 3 easy vacations you can take.

Vacation 1 – Call a friend in another city, and go visit. The only excessive cost will be the gas to get there. You buy some groceries when you get there and the cost is not much more than normal life.

Vacation 2 – Go for a walk. This morning I went for an eight-mile hike. I put my favorite music on, and set out on a journey around my neighborhood (4x around = 8 miles). I promise, after mile 2, I was caught up in the music and walking and was in a world of my own.

Vacation 3 – Unplug. This is the hardest for me to do, but take the phone off the hook, and turn your cell phones and laptops off. Grab a book or watch your favorite movie or two. Not focusing on your norm will give your body a chance to re-energize.

Have you taken a vacation recently? What did you do? Any tips for inexpensive vacations?