Pedro's god and Pastor Joel...

Joel's tweet today is as follows: God has all kinds of ways to bring your dreams to pass. He has ways you've never even thought of. Your job is to believe and lean on Him.”

Maybe you remember Pedro from the low budget, but very funny film, "Napolean Dynamite." Pedro decides to run for school president of his class and his campaign slogan is, "Vote fo rme and all your wildest dreams will come true."

Joel's god is pretty much the same; like a broken record Joel pushes a god who exists to bring about all your dreams and ambitions! It's a nice thought except the god Osteen preaches doesn't exist accept in his imagination and in his best selling books. The only dreams coming true are his with the millions he is making off of sincere people looking for real hope.

"The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity" brings clarity to the God of true hope and the God of the Bible with real promises, not pipe dreams. I highly recommend the book! Available October 4th at most major on line bookstores!

Hurricane Irene Aimed At Our East Coast!

It would be the fool who sat in his rocking chair on his porch in his home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina enjoying a crossword puzzle as the storm approached. "Mabel what's a five letter word for a person who ignores obvious danger? It begins with I D blank O T?"

I believe that perhaps the biggest reason for all the mystery and lack of specificity in the book of Revelation is precisely so that we don't know that the END is 7 years away, or 20 years away, or will not be in out lifetimes! Because God wants us living on the edge of urgency so that HIS purposes for mankind will be accomplished.

I say it without apology--that one statement is the wrecking ball of the growing sky scraper called the prosperity gospel! WE EXIST FOR GOD AND HIS PLANS FOR US, HE DOES NOT EXIST FOR US TO BRING ABOUT OUR PLANS! Joel Osteen and so many others just don't get that!

Inaugural Book Signing

Tonight at my church I will be having my first book signing. I expect it to be rather awkward. The whole idea seems to be a bit egotistical and/or self-serving and yet it is what many have been asking for. I delight in their excitement on my behalf but it still feels a bit weird, like, "Whew hoo! Look at me, look what I did!" The truth is, if people knew where I came from so to speak, it is nothing but evidence of the wonder working power of God to use a chipped and cracked vessel for His honor. Thank you Lord; I am nearly undone when I think about it all.

And then of course there are the obligatory joy stealers to borrow a phrase from Max Lucado. There was some flap after the first Sunday we allowed people to pick up their books. A scant handful of people were annoyed about "selling" MY book in the church. What is interesting and again typical, is that I personally had told the staff when asked before all this went down that we would not be selling my book on Sunday morning. I didn't want a circus environment distracting from what we do. But after the books came in people wanted to know why they couldn't just get their books when they came to church. Some people come quite a ways and having it available on Sunday when they are there anyway would be convenient. So with the blessing of the leadership we decided to make it easy for people; it just made sense and besides while we do restrict such activities we have also made exceptions in the past. Let's see, what's the adage? Damned if you do, damned if you don't?

My first reaction was to forget the whole Book thing and collapse to the vocal, and usually, invisible minority. But as I pondered it and sought counsel about it, I thought, you know, that would be no different than mimicking the high school that tells the Valedictorian that she cannot pray at her graduation or mention God in her speech because "someone" protested saying they would be offended.

Why do we always buckle to the 2 or 3 voices that have one opinion when there are thousands more that have no problem? Personally, I think it past time to stop catering to the minority hang ups while trampling on the desires of the majority.

Never-the-less, instead of pure joy, now there's awkwardness. Sigh... Maranatha!